New-U
by Shikaku Zetsumei
Summary: [Complete] Death on Pandora is a bit complicated. A young girl gets a chance at a life she never had, even if it is a bit... tense. An Angel-centric story. Now with Bonus Content at the end.
1. Rerouting

A/N: Welp, this idea was bound to show up, might as well give it a go. I had the idea stuck in my head ever since finishing the game so I figured I might as well write it down. Depending on how I feel about it, it may end up being just a one shot.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 0 – Rerouting

How long had she been like this? She had stopped counting long ago. Caught somewhere between life and death, she often wondered if she was still human. Trapped within the cold steel walls of the confinement chamber, she had spent countless hours by herself. The constant hum of the machines pulling energy from her had made her question her humanity more and more with each passing day. Through her powers, she found comfort in watching the wild world of Pandora from one of Hyperion's surveillance satellites. The time she had spent with her consciousness in that satellite would often exceed the time she spent in her real body, so much that she eventually considered her a kind of sentient AI.

And then one day, they had come to Pandora.

Vault Hunters, they had been called. She had been ordered to watch them and to guide them to the Vault. They called her the Guardian Angel, which she found funny for how close to her name it ended up being. Everything had gone downhill from there. Once Atlas had been pushed off the planet by the Vault Hunters, Hyperion had immediately come and started mining operations for eridium. The four Vault Hunters had been forced to deal with the army, who had lead a mass genocide across Pandora, killing anyone who they deemed to be "bandits". It became her job to lead the new Vault Hunters Hyperion had hired towards bringing down Sanctuary, the last bastion of the Pandoran resistance.

And she had. Slowly manipulating their actions, she had led the new Vault Hunters to Wilhelm and to the corrupted power core. Lieutenant Davis had been so happy when they brought that core to him. It would mean that Sanctuary would be safe from Hyperion bombardments for good. His elation turned to horror as the core brought down the shields. He would be vaporized within seconds by the awaiting bombardment.

The Vault Hunters had lost all trust in her at that moment. She could almost feel their disgust through the ECHOnet. Though the city of Sanctuary survived the lunar bombardment thanks to Lilith, it had not been without casualties. And the individuals whom she had come to consider her friends, who trusted her, albeit hesitantly, no matter how distant she was to them, had hated her with every fiber of their beings. Though she blamed herself for doing this to them, she also blamed the one who forced her into doing it.

Handsome Jack.

She no longer considered him her father. When she had stopped calling him that, she had no idea, but it didn't seem like he had noticed either. She used formal terms like 'sir' or simply referred to him by his strange nickname. She had come to care little for the man. But no matter how she tried, she could not shake the memories of how she ended up in this prison-like space.

…

_A nine year old girl sat in the living room of the quaint little house belonging to John and Mary Xanders. John was a hard working engineer for the massive Hyperion Corporation and Mary was a lawyer for the same company. For a nine year old, Angel Xanders was rather skinny, deathly pale, her hair never seemed to lay flat, and her eyes glowed with a strange blue light. As a kid she had hated her appearance. Other children at school made fun of her looks, especially the marks that wound around her left arm and leg, calling her names like monster and freak. Unknown to her, since her birth, her parents had toiled away, trying to figure out what medical condition might have induced these marks. They always distanced themselves, for fear it was somehow contagious. A young looking lady approached the small girl who was playing with her toys in this quiet living room._

"_Come, Angel. It's time to see the doctor."_

_The child frowned, pouting up at the lady._

"_But mommy, I don't wanna. He's mean!"_

_Her mother gave an exasperated sigh, closing her eyes and rubbing them with her fingers in a slow and practiced motion._

"_Honey, the doctors need to figure out what's wrong with you."_

_The girl continued to pout._

"_I'm not sick! I feel fine!"_

_Mary let out a harsh breath. It had been a long day at work fighting with weapon design rights that the Maliwan Corporation claimed they owned. Those damned hippies and their incessant nagging did not improve her mood. She did not have time for such childish complaints._

"_Young lady, you will do as your told. The doctor is waiting."_

_She grabbed Angel's arm, perhaps a bit harder than necessary, and began dragging the girl towards the door. The nine year old girl screamed and protested, struggling against her mother's grasp. Mary couldn't keep her temper anymore. She turned on the girl._

"_Look at your arm! Your leg! You think that's normal? Your father and I have done everything, EVERYTHING we could to fix this! Now MOVE!"_

_She yanked on Angel's arm and there was a faint, almost inaudible popping noise. The young girl screamed in pain as her arm was dislocated from the force of the pull. Thinking the child was becoming belligerent, Mary whirled and smacked the girl across the face, leaving a bright red mark._

_"I have HAD IT with you! MOVE!"_

_Mary tugged harder on the dislocated arm, causing the girl to scream out again. The young lawyer was about to turn around again when she felt a small hand against her side._

"_LET GO!"_

_A shove, stronger than Mary had thought possible from the frail looking girl. Mary tumbled backwards out the front door and landed on the porch. Angel kneeled just inside the doorway, grasping her shoulder and sobbing, a faint blue-purple light radiating from her body. Mary staggered to her feet._

"_You little…"_

_Angel's left arm glowed brightly, nearly blinding the lawyer. Then the door shut. Mary tried to unlock the electronic door but found that her home key didn't work. She pounded on the door._

"_What did you do?! Let me in this instant!"_

_There was no reply, just the continued crying from inside. Her anger exploded_

"_Dammit!"_

_She gave the door a harsh kick that shook its very frame. There was a small scream from inside. The next moment, two turrets, the house's automated security system, rose from the floorboards of the porch. Their chambers spun, warming up as they issued a warning._

_*Intruder detected. Please leave the premise.*_

_Mary froze._

"_Angel… honey? I'm sorry… let me in okay?"_

_*Open fire in 3…*_

"_Angel?"_

_*2…*_

"_ANGEL!"_

_*1…*_

"_OPEN THE DOOR YOU LITTLE B…"_

_The turrets fired. Thousands of bullets tore through Mary's body in a matter of seconds, thanks to Hyperion's accelerator technology. The sudden noise caused quite the commotion. A elderly neighbor had screamed when she saw the carnage. The ambulances came too late. It was later said that they only arrived to attempt to pick up the remains. There wasn't even enough genetic material left to attempt a reconstruction through the experimental New-U station, a highly unpredictable cloning technology still in development by Hyperion. John would come running, screaming something about his wife. He would then attempt to enter his house, only to be stopped by the police officers near the scene. The turrets were, after all, still active. John ended up breaking down not ten meters from where the remains of his wife lay, spattered across the concrete walkway. But Angel heard none of it, for she had passed out from shock after the turrets had issued their first warning._

_The brutal death of the Hyperion lawyer was written off as an accident. An error in the security's programming, coupled with her dismissal of the turret's warning, had resulted in the turrets acting accordingly. It was said that the reports drove John to insanity, for it was he who had personally programmed his home's security. Secretly, he was later approached by Hyperion scientists who proposed a theory._

_Angel was not sick. She was a Siren. One with the apparent ability to control electronics._

_It was an unfounded guess that ended up being true. John didn't care though. He only heard one thing from the scientists: his little girl had killed his wife. He had the scientists build a chamber lined with every insulator Hyperion could get its hands on, in what would later prove to be a useless effort to seal her power. And in that cold isolated space, he placed his daughter. Afraid and unsure of her power, he could only do just that. That moment had haunted Angel ever since._

"_Look, it's just like your own little castle! You'll be like a princess!"_

_Her father had smiled, smiled with those dead looking eyes._

"_You'll have everything you want! Go on in."_

_She shook her head._

"_I don't wanna! Where's mommy."_

_That had caused a change in John's eyes. They brightened with a fierce, insane light._

"_M…mommy's gone far away, pumpkin. Now get in the chamber!"_

_And into that cold space she had been shoved. She had stopped asking about her mother on that day. And she stopped calling John father._

…

She had come to call it Phaseshift. As she spent the years sitting in that containment sphere, she gradually came to terms with her power. She likened it to hacking, but in reality, it allowed her to project her consciousness into other beings. She had tried to go into the mind of a nearby scientist once, but the constant noise of jumbled thoughts being sorted by the brain's higher processes had nearly made her pass out. And so, she stayed with the more organized programming of machines.

She found that she couldn't Phaseshift for long periods of time either. While she used it freely before the Vault on Pandora had been opened, she found she wasn't able to use it as much once Jack had forced her to start charging the key. She had guessed it had to do with interference from the pure eridium flowing through her system.

Angel knew the key was close to completion. After being connected to it for so many years, she could sense it reaching a maximum capacity. Frankly, it made her feel like vomiting. A process that normally took two hundred years being forced to completion in only five had caused the key to be highly unstable throughout the entire process.

And so, she had led the Vault Hunters to her very chambers and told them to destroy it all. Though hesitant at first, her desperate pleas had driven them to act. She refused to be a slave any longer. If she had to die to gain her freedom, then so be it. Anything to spite her former father.

The battle had been a fierce one. Jack did everything he could to kill the Vault Hunters right then and there. He had expended a large amount of company resources in that battle and eventually resorted to false pleas of mercy on his daughter. Angel had told them to ignore him as she pushed her mental limits, resupplying the Vault Hunters as they fought tooth and claw for their very lives.

And then, as suddenly as it had started, it was done.

She felt the charged energy of pure eridium leaving her body. Exhausted from the years of charging the Vault key, she fell from her platform. Roland rushed over, worry written all over his face. Lilith was yelling something, but her ears didn't seem to be working anymore. It touched her, that the very people she had betrayed could still show such concern for a person like her. Her breath felt dry as she spoke.

"Dad… I have to tell you something."

Surprised, Jack stopped raving in the background. Even the vault hunters paused, unsure of what was happening. Angel struggled as she felt her breath slipping away.

"You're an asshole."

A small triumph, but a triumph nonetheless. Unable to muster any more strength, she fell back against the raised platform of her containment chamber. Roland looked deeply troubled as he kneeled near her. Lilith hung back, tears forming in her eyes. The other four vault hunters stayed back as well, wary of more Hyperion loaders. She gave them a cheeky grin, one that she hadn't used since she was a child. She then closed her eyes and let the darkness overtake her.

…

She knew she would die ever since she started helping the vault hunters break down the various shields around chambers. But even so, she couldn't help wish that she had got to live like a normal girl. Her head felt clouded and her limbs like lead. She could do nothing but drift away into the blackness.

Then, somewhere in the empty space in her mind, a programmed voice echoed.

*Connecting to Hyperion New-U Station*

'What?'

*Connecting…*

*Error: Terminal Damaged*

*Error: Terminal Not Found*

*Rerouting to nearest available terminal*

*Error: Backup Terminal Disabled*

*Rerouting…*

*Rerouting…*

*Rerouting…*

*Terminal found, resuming process*

The young girl waited on baited breath, eyes closed and unsure what was happening. A minute passed. Then another. She was suddenly aware of an uncomfortable roughness against her bare arms. It was grainy and warm, it didn't take long for her to deduce that she was laying on the sands of Pandora. Carefully, she cracked her eyes open. She was in the shade of some building, the sun was overhead judging by the pinpricks of light shining through the makeshift metal roof. She blinked slowly.

"You alright there, missy?"

A young, male sounding voice came from above her. Suddenly, a face obscured by a fighter pilot's oxygen mask appeared in her line of sight, uncomfortably close. Startled, Angel let out a shriek as she pushed herself backwards, away from this strange creature. Her arms throbbed from disuse but the adrenaline drove away the pain. The figure had stumbled backwards from her reaction and fell, clumsily, onto his butt.

"Loggins! You givin' someone trouble again?"

A shrill cry came from inside the building. The person got off the ground and dusted himself off. His masked head turned towards the building.

"No, ma'am! I thought this person was dead or something!"

The voice called out again, closer this time.

"Well course she's alive! Tha's the New-U Station ain't it? Now git back to work before I kick yer skinny ass!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The man named Loggins ran off. The ground vibrated slightly as another person approached. Angel turned to face the largest woman she had ever seen. She was wearing overalls with metal plated straps over a bright orange T-shirt that looked as big as Angel was tall.

"You alrigh' girly? Name's Ellie and this here's my shop. I see you've met my useless helper."

Angel simply nodded, still looking startled. Her breath still came in ragged gasps as she tried to calm her racing heart.

"Looks like you've never used one of these before."

The girl gradually found her voice.

"I… No I haven't."

Ellie chucked.

"Yer lucky. Most folks around here can't afford these stations. Those Hyperion bastards probably set all of them up as a joke. Only people I see usin' them are them Vault Hunters."

The young Siren nodded.

"Yeah… I guess."

Ellie frowned. The small girl was staring just past her head, eyes out of focus.

"What's the matter with you? You hit yer head or somethin'?"

Angel shook her head. All this was happening so fast, she hadn't quite come to terms with it just yet.

"I… I was supposed to die…"

The big woman suddenly scowled.

"Don't tell me you killed yerself for kicks? What do you take money fer anyway?"

Angel waved her arms and shook her head vigorously. The action made her head spin a bit.

"N-no! I was killed… I wasn't even aware I had my DNA in this system!"

She held her head in pain as she squeezed her eyes shut. Ellie smiled in a sudden mood change.

"Well, looks like someone cared enough fer you to do so"

Still confused, Angel tried to make sense of the situation.

"But… I don't have any money on me."

Equally confused, Ellie offered an answer.

"Maybe yer folks paid for it?"

The contemplating Siren looked down, face darkening.

"I doubt it. They'd sooner have me killed."

Ellie chuckled.

"Man, that sounds like them Hodunk pissants. They tried to do that to my ma. Well anyway, let's git you inside. Don't wanna stay out here too long, it's friggin' hot!"

She reached down to help the girl up. As she did, she caught sight of Angel's left arm.

"Hey…! Yer one of them Siren's ain'tcha?"

Angel suddenly snatched her hand back, causing her to fall back onto the sand. She grabbed her arm defensively. Ellie looked amused.

"Woah there, honey! No need to be afraid. I was just sayin'"

The Siren remained wary. Her eyes darted towards the desert, calculating how far she could go before dying of thirst. She looked back at Ellie.

"You're not going to turn me in to Hyperion are you?"

Ellie snorted.

"Do I look like I have any love for them pricks?"

Angel got to her feet shakily.

"No…"

Ellie smiled.

"For yer information, you're the third Siren I've seen now. Most folks don't even get to see one! Man, I must be pretty lucky!"

Angel perked up at this. She spoke hesitantly.

"Other Sirens?"

Ellie shifted slightly, causing her enormous bosom to sway.

"Well sure! That Maya chick came through here with those other three ruffians a while back. Then there's this Lilith girl, comes around every once in a while to check up on me for Moxxi."

Upon hearing those names, Angel stepped forward, almost bumping into Ellie.

"You know them? Where are they? Are they safe?"

Ellie laughed, a loud barking laugh that echoed slightly in the vast desert.

"Hold yer horses, missy! They're alive, 's far as I know. But I don't even know yer name, why should I tell you where they are?"

The young girl looked slightly relieved.

"They made it out then…"

Ellie frowned slightly.

"They yer friends?"

Angel paused, unsure of the answer. Though she had tried to redeem herself in their eyes, she still couldn't bring herself to call them that. She gave a hesitant response.

"I… don't know."

Ellie bent down, as far as she could, and stared closely at Angel, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"W-what?"

The large woman let out a long sigh.

"You seem alright. I'll tell ya, 's not like you can get there in one piece anyway."

Angel cocked her head slightly in confusion. The woman continued.

"Last I heard they was heading off to some Hyperion place. Somethin' about the Vault key and whatnot? I hear they got that Zer0 person to dress up like Jack, voice and all! Man, I wish I coulda seen that. That Zer0 always seemed way too uptight…"

Ellie trailed off. She peered at the girl again. The skinny girl looked sad and a bit worried.

"Oh… I just came from there…"

Ellie looked a bit puzzled but chose not to press the issue. She walked over to the Fast Travel. She scrolled through the menu.

"Well, if you know them, you might as well wait for them in Sanctuary. No way they're gonna git themselves killed. Here, put yer hand on the panel, it should take you to Sanctuary."

Angel touched the panel hesitantly.

*Access Denied.*

Ellie turned to Angel, a suspicious look on her face.

"You sure you know them?"

Angel nodded.

"I've never used one of these before…"

Ellie scoffed.

"Nonsense. You didn't walk everywhere did you? Here, let's try a nearby Travel point."

Several minutes of trying to use the Fast Travel exhausted every outpost option. Even that silly robot's place seemed to be inaccessible to the girl.

"Well, shoot. Looks like yer gonna have to walk there… I can lend you a car, but that will only take you so far."

Angel looked at the Fast Travel teleporter.

"Maybe I can hack it."

She placed a hand on the machine and concentrated, trying to enter the meditative trance that allowed her to transfer her consciousness. The symbols on her arm glowed as she activated her power. She suddenly pulled back, a pained expression on her face. Ellie gave her a concerned look.

"You alright? What happened?"

Angel took several breaths before speaking again.

"Too much traffic, it's too noisy in there."

The large woman laughed.

"Well, yeah, people use that thing all the time! It IS a network you know?"

Angel sighed, discouraged.

"Guess I'll take that offer on the car then."

The woman nodded. She gestured at Angel.

"You don't look like you had much with you huh?"

Angel shook her head sadly.

"I thought I was dead for good."

There was a pregnant pause as the girl stared at her shoes. Here she was, in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely nothing. She had no idea if the Vault Hunters had made it out alive, nor if she could even make it to Sanctuary on her own. Ellie suddenly scooped the skinny girl into a massive bear hug, shocking her out of her misery.

"Aw, honey, I don't know what kind of life you had, but it'll git better soon. Roland and his friends are gonna set this straight."

Though she was suffocating, Angel smiled. And though she smelled like sweat and motor oil, it was a comforting feeling, one she never had in her life. After being set down, she followed Ellie into the shop. Ellie grabbed a backpack and started tossing in some meal bars, a blanket, and some other supplies. Loggins had wandered over as this was happening. He watched as Ellie grabbed an ECHO communicator and toss it into the pack.

"Hey! Those are mine!"

Ellie snorted.

"Yeah, well just think of it as compensation for being paid to stand around all the time!"

Loggins gave up the argument pretty quickly. Ellie handed the backpack to Angel, who accepted it quietly. She the tossed her a roll of bandages. Angel looked questioningly at the woman.

"You's best keep that hidden. Plenty of bandits still lookin' for Sirens for that bounty."

As she spoke, Ellie gestured at the markings on Angel's arm. Complying, Angel covered up the markings. Then Ellie rummaged around in a nearby trunk and pulled out a beat-up Jakobs rifle. She tried to give this to the girl.

"I can't… don't you need it?"

Ellie frowned.

"Girly, I don't know what kind of sheltered life you musta lived without seeing bandits, but if you go out there unarmed, yer gonna git yerself killed."

"But…"

Ellie laughed.

"I'll be fine! I've got others. Worst case, I throw Loggins at them and use a car turret. And besides, that gruff guy, what's his name, the crazy one with the mohawk…"

"Salvador?"

The woman nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one. He got drunk here while the others were taking a break. I think he forgot about it. This is actually his."

Angel nodded and gripped the barrel of the rifle.

"Now yer gonna want to head south, towards the Highlands. Sanctuary's still floating around there. Once you get there, ECHO me and I'll give them a call to let you in."

The girl nodded again, shouldering the pack. Her eyes felt slightly moist. She sniffed slightly, rubbing at her eyes.

"Thanks for everything, Ellie."

Ellie smiled and patted the girl on the head.

"Take care of yourself out there, girly."

A thought came to Angel and she addressed Ellie again.

"It's Angel. My name is Angel."

Ellie grinned and walked over to the Catch-a-Ride system.

"A pleasure to meet you, Angel. Say hi to Scooter for me will ya?"

Angel nodded before staring out into the Dust. What awaited her in this vast and brutal land? Sure she had seen it all before from the satellite feeds, but it always felt artificial, a mere image projected in front of her eyes of some fantastical land far away. Now it lay before her, foreboding yet alluring. She adjusted the backpack on her shoulders and gripped the weathered rifle in her bandaged hands. Without hesitating, she stepped into the driver's seat and drove out into this new world.

…

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it, leave a review and let me know how my writing is. Also, let me know if you by any chance would like to read more. Like I said, this is likely to be a one shot, but may become more depending on my time and inspiration. After all, there are a couple loose ends I can cover.

A couple notes. I'm unsure if it was mentioned specifically, but through the game, it seemed to me that Jack either didn't fully know or didn't care about Angel's Phaseshift ability, nor is it explained in any great detail, so I took a few liberties with how her ability was used in the game.

Oh and… Brat. Mary was definitely gonna say brat.


	2. Initiating

A/N: Well, that was surprising, didn't think it would garner that much interest. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. Special thanks to MEleSmasher for the messages and suggestions. I guess we'll see where this goes. Taking liberties with map and area transitions as in the game, those merely delineate places that you can go without dying or getting shot by Hyperion turret towers… you know, those things that point cool lasers at you and a big red warning says you've gone too far. Important notes at the end, please look at those once you finish the chapter.

Also, to Stazlerous: I listened to those ECHO recordings again and, yeah, I suppose its implied to some extent. I feel like it just implied he used her to track people.

Note: Minor edits were made to the prologue, I forgot to add in the bit where she bandages her arm to cover her Siren markings.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 1 – Initiating

Not an hour into her grand adventure, our bold adventurer started to wonder if heading off on her own was actually a pretty bad idea. Angel was still heading south, according to the onboard display, but all she could see for miles was nothing but sand dunes. The sun beat down overhead, reminding her of the harsh lands she had watched the Vault Hunters trek through. She wiped the sweat from her brow, took another swig of water, and squinted into the distance, trying to find some shade to rest in. The bandages around her left arm itched and she longed to remove them. But she kept Ellie's warning in mind and left them alone. Focusing on driving, she barreled on into the dusty wasteland.

It was a shaky start to begin with. Within seconds of leaving Ellie's Garage, she promptly spun out after running over some stray rocks and a steel plate hidden just under the sand. The car lurched and screeched to a stop, much to Ellie's amusement. Angel had watched the Vault Hunters zip around Scooter's speeding death contraptions before, but actually driving one was a whole different experience.

"Never driven before, huh?"

With a sheepish grin on her face, Angel shook her head. The older woman laughed and digi-structed a second racer from within the garage. Ellie then spent the better part of an hour showing her how to handle the rickety vehicle. It wasn't easy. Several spiderants met their ends as the novice driver skidded over the slippery dunes, trying to keep her vehicle going straight. Eventually, she got the hang of it and, once again, bid farewell to the mechanic and her sullen helper.

"Thanks for the driving lesson, Ellie."

The big woman guffawed heartily.

"You need ta plan things out, missy! Runnin' off when you don't even know how to drive! Why you in such a hurry anyways?"

The young girl stared southwest, in the direction of Sanctuary.

"I'm afraid something might have happened to them… Everything happened so fast when I died. I don't even know if they left the place."

She wrung her bandaged hands worriedly.

"And Lilith…"

Ellie cocked her head, curiously.

"What about her?"

The young Siren looked all the more concerned.

"I told her not to come… I was afraid that the machinery might have somehow switched over to her the moment I died… I mean, I did have them destroy the eridium tubes but…"

She trailed off, seemingly forgetting that Ellie was still there. The big woman frowned, sighed, and then spoke.

"Well I haven't a clue what yer on about, but it seems important. Hurry along then, jus' follow the map and you should be good. Jus' watch out for them Hodunks. Even though that ol' bastard Papa Hodunk might be dead, that stupid clan sure as hell ain't."

Nodding, Angel hopped back into the racer and took off into the desert. Following Ellie's directions, she went south, giving the remnants of the Hodunk clan a wide berth. And so, she continued on her uneventful drive into the desert. Fortunately, Scooter had the sense and foresight to install water dispensers in the racers, also using the digi-struct system. Seeing how clean water was sometimes hard to find on Pandora, the feature became a necessity when people like the Vault Hunters used the racers to go on extensive journeys.

A few more hours of mindless driving and the sun was beginning to set, which wasn't surprising considering she had left the garage in the afternoon. She came to a quick stop and stood up in the mounted turret seat. Pulling out a pair of binoculars, the young Siren scouted the area. Picking out a shaded area in the distance, she drove there. Parking for the night, the girl made a small dinner out of the meal bars in her pack and water from the car's dispenser. As Angel ate, the stars gradually appeared in the night sky. Sighing, she leaned back in the driver's seat and stared up at the stars. She loved the scene. It was an enthralling spread of glittering jewels scattered across a blue-purple backdrop, something she never had a chance to see from the satellites around Pandora. How much of the world had she missed in those ten years? This moment made her thank whoever programmed her DNA code into the New-U system. Without them, well, she wouldn't be here in the first place. She sighed contentedly. Feeling sleepy from her meal, she drew the Jakobs rifle close to her like some long lost stuffed animal and slowly drifted to sleep.

…

Angel awoke a few hours later to the sound of footsteps on the sand and mumbling. She guessed it might have been near midnight. Keeping her eyes closed, she could vaguely make out two voices, one which seemed to be rambling on and on about his mommy. The first voice, a male by the sound of it, reprimanded the mumbling one.

"Quiet! That one seems to be sleeping!"

A third voice sounded, giggling lightly. There was a soft patter of quick footsteps and one of the strangers approached the racer. A soft clank as boots contacted against the shell of the vehicle. She hear the giggling again, this time closer. Tightening the rifle in her hands, she opened her eyes suddenly. What she saw shocked her as much as it did the opposing party.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

A small masked face was but inches away, staring at her curiously. As her eyes had shot open, the midget, which had been closely peering at her apparently sleeping face, screamed loudly in shock. Even as her short shriek ended, the midget continued screaming. The scream quickly became an insane laughter as the midget began jumping up and down on the roll bars of the racer in what appeared to be glee. It grabbed the bar and swung downwards, laughing upside down at the inhabitant of the small vehicle. Her eyes swung to the left. There were two others, a bandit and a psycho, watching the midget's antics with amusement. It seemed that they did not think her armed and the midget clearly didn't care that she was.

Angel acted.

Thrusting the rifle upwards, she caught the midget just below the mask with the steel barrel. With a gurgle, it fell back from the car and hit the sand with a soft thud. The other two froze at this sudden increase in tension. The bandit started to raise his pistol to fire but a shot from the old rifle caught him in the arm, sending him twirling to the ground. Despite hitting her mark, she was surprised for, though she knew how to use a gun from watching the Vault Hunters all those years, she really had no idea how good her aim was. At the same time, she grimaced as her thin shoulders trembled from the powerful recoil and scrambled to steady her aim for fear that the other two might act. The next bullet pierced the bandit's chest as he tried to regain his footing. The unlucky bandit crumbled to the ground with a small cry. All the while the psycho watched this ordeal, jumping up and down in excitement. In the ten seconds or so it took for Angel to finish off the bandit, the psycho had turned its attention towards her, drawing an axe from his belt.

"My mommy says I'm a good boy!"

The psycho's incoherent babble rang out in the still night as the echoes of gunfire were still fading into the distance. Adrenaline driving her motions, she aimed the semi-auto Jakobs rifle at the psycho, who was now running towards the racer at an alarming speed. The gun barked again and a 7.62x51mm bullet found its way into the psycho's torso, just left of the heart. Clearly in pain, the psycho continued laughing to itself. Blood oozed from under the mask as he forced himself to stumble forward, step by step. She fired again, and the psycho fell with a gurgle. There was a small moan from nearby and she turned her attention to the midget, who was regaining consciousness. Unwilling to attack an unarmed, unconscious being, even if it was clearly an enemy, she waited. The midget turned its head upwards to stare at the barrel of the Jakobs rifle. Angel spoke one sentence.

"Get out of here, or you're next."

Apparently sane enough to understand this, the midget gave a nervous giggle before backing away, tripping over itself in the process. Angel remained vigilant until the midget's figure disappeared in the distance. Then she collapsed in her seat as the adrenaline left her system. She suddenly felt extremely tired. Letting out a long breath, she forced herself to turn the key in the ignition. She had to find a different place to spend the night. About twenty miles in the distance, there were a few jagged rocks sticking out of the sand. The tired Siren headed towards them. As she approached, she noticed it was more of a small plateau with a few rocks sticking haphazardly out of the sand. Fortunately for her, the rocks had been weathered away by the wind to form a natural alcove. She parked her car, trying to keep it as hidden as possible within the small space. Then, feeling the pull of sleep, Angel sank down into the driver's seat, closed her eyes, and fell into a fitful sleep.

…

_She dreamed of her childhood. She dreamed of that cold isolated chamber. She dreamed of Handsome Jack._

_It hadn't always been that way. Angel hadn't always been trapped on that mountaintop in Thousand Cuts, mindlessly tracking potential Vault Hunters and painstakingly charging the Vault Key. She had spent the first few years alone in an isolation chamber on her home planet of Eden-6, almost completely away from any meaningful human interaction . On occasion, she would talk to the scientists, but the conversations were always short. Brief answers to simple questions like "How are you today?" and "Do you need anything else?". In all honestly, she never considered them real conversations, just formalities. Rarely did Jack come down to the chamber. But whenever he did, he never made eye contact with her or addressed her directly. In fact, the only remotely human contact she had was when the scientists drew her blood for more tests. And that was still through the awkward feeling of the gloves they would wear for sterility. Even though one scientist occasionally brought her toys and new clothes, that was apparently the extent of his job, for he was no less cold and aloof than the other researchers in the place._

"_Hey, stay with me, please?"_

_Angel, age 11, had once mustered up the courage to speak with the man that brought her playthings. He was a middle aged scientist, perhaps a bit older than Jack. He had dark brown hair that faded slightly to streaks of white near his temples with a similarly graying goatee. Though she didn't know at the time, this man was the head scientist for Hyperion. The man stared down at the small girl through thin, silver rimmed glasses with a slight frown on his face._

"_Handsome Jack specifically forbade that. He fears you may lose control of your abilities."_

_The small girl looked like she was about to cry._

"_I won't… I promise…"_

_The older scientist stood, considering. Then he pulled up a chair and sat down near her._

"_Very well. What do you wish of me?"_

_Surprised, the girl stood in the same spot for a couple seconds. She walked closer to the man, who was sitting, quite patiently, awaiting a query. After considering for a while, she posed a question._

"_What's it like outside?"_

_The man frowned, slightly confused._

"_It is a peaceful city. Eden-6 flourishes under the Hyperion Corperation's guidance."_

_Stubbornly, the girl shook her head._

"_No, I mean, what's it like… living out there?"_

_The scientist scratched his chin._

"_It is… busy. People wake up and go to work on a routine schedule in order to make a living. Children go to school and learn the kinds of things we have been teaching you in here, but by people who are usually more qualified to work with children. There is always construction going on, buildings, like this research facility, are always in need due to Hyperion's weapons research. The Capitol is constantly noisy, constantly expanding. But it's home. I think many people consider it so. And so they ignore the noise and go about their lives as they choose."_

_The girl soaked in every world, eyes glazed over, trying to remember the outside world with which she had lost contact with for over two years. The scientist coughed lightly, bringing her back to reality. The girl looked depressed. Eyes downcast, she spoke again to the man._

"_Why doesn't he ever talk to me?"_

_It didn't take long for the scientist to figure out who she was talking about. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair._

"_I don't know. Perhaps he is too busy."_

_Tears started to well up in the girl's eyes._

"_He hates me."_

_The scientist frowned._

"_Come now, I don't think he hates you."_

_Though he said that, his tone conveyed otherwise. In all actuality, most of the scientists felt some sympathy for the girl, who had all but been abandoned by her so-called father. But a job was a job, and Hyperion paid the bills. There were rumors floating around that the man they once knew as John Xanders, now being called Handsome Jack for some reason or other, was trying for the position of President of the corporation. Many had learned to give the man his space. Some didn't learn and the rumors of what happened to those people still scared the middle-aged scientist. The research team in charge of Angel's isolation chamber could do little else than obey the cold engineer's commands. The head researcher spoke again._

"_Is that all?"_

_The girl though hard, not wanting the man to leave. For when he left, she would be alone again._

"_May I go outside? I promise to be good. I just wanna see it again…"_

_The scientist made to speak before a cold voice interjected._

"_No."_

_Handsome Jack had entered the isolation chamber. Judging by the vein popping from his forehead just above the strange mask he wore, he wasn't pleased at all. He strode up to the scientist, hands clenching and unclenching in rage._

"_What are you doing here, Wastryn? You had your orders. None of them said to stay and make conversation. What exactly did you think you were going to do, huh? Let her go on a walk?"_

_Calmly, the scientist named Wastryn stood and faced Handsome Jack._

"_On the contrary. I believe children are more compliant when their needs are fulfilled. I was merely doing my job as head researcher to ensure this project works efficiently."_

_The man strode off, leaving Handsome Jack and Angel alone in the chamber. His words had hurt. The young girl didn't understand why the man spoke the way he did. In a way, she almost felt more betrayed in those few seconds than she did during that whirlwind of a disaster that resulted in her imprisonment in this facility. Tentatively, the young Angel looked up at her father. However, the man did not deign to look at his daughter. Turning, he too strode from the room. The door shut with a hiss followed by a hollow click. And she was alone again._

_She stopped asking about the outside world._

_She stopped talking to the scientists._

…

Angel awoke, or rather, was rudely awoken by a 20-gauge buckshot shell slamming into the side of her racer. Caught unawares, her body lost balance in the small seat. She fell sideways, partially into the space between the driver's seat and the wall of the vehicle.

"Come on little one! Time to DIE!"

A loud gruff voice sounded. Gingerly, she peeked her head over the side of the vehicle. She let out a gasp. About fifty bandits had gathered and had surrounded the rocky alcove in a loose semicircle. The one that fired the shot was a mean looking bruiser holding a shotgun that looked like a toy in his hands. She noticed the numerous scars riddling his muscular arms as he raised the gun to rally the bandits around him. Nearby, a small figure danced about. It jumped up and down, shouting in a high pitched voice. Angel groaned. It was the midget from the night before. Locking eyes with her, the midget screamed in glee.

"There she is!"

Angel ducked quickly as a hail of bullets passed overhead, slamming into the rock wall to the right of the car and sending small pieces raining down on her. The young girl cursed under her breath.

"Damn it! That little shit went and found allies!"

The car shook as several bullets deflected off the steel outer plating. Glancing around, her eyes locked onto the vehicle's turret mount. She got an idea. Placing her hand on the side of the car see took a couple steadying breaths.

"Activating Phaseshift."

Angel dived into the machine, taking over its controls and manually aiming at the gathered bandits. They stared back, hesitantly, wondering why the car, which was clearly not running, was moving on its own accord. All thoughts left their minds as the mounted machine gun fired. The initial shots missed their marks as Angel attempted to aim the gun from with the machine's programming. This was enough time for the bandits to jump out of the way and find cover behind various rocks scattered about the foot of the plateau.

"Shoot that turret!"

The bandits turned their fire on the mounted machine gun, attempting to disable it. Concentrating, Angel turned the turret towards a bandits that were crouching, attempting to make themselves as small a target as possible. However, their efforts were in vain as the countless bullets provided by Scooter's digi-structed ammo supply tore through them as if their armor was nothing more than paper. Slowly, she picked them off one by one, struggling with those that continued to hide behind the rocks. Using those rocks as cover, the bandits also progressed bit by bit, chipping away at the turret. At first the damage was superficial. The guard rail was chipped and dented, several bullets grazed the body of the turret. But then, the lead bruiser stepped forward. Giving a mighty roar, he fired the shotgun as fast as he could pump. It seemed that he was using Hyperion tech as the bullet spread shrank with every shot he fired. Within the turret, Angel could feel the damage piling up. The bullets seemed to be exiting the barrel slower and the turning mechanism wasn't responding as quickly anymore.

*Ka-clunk!*

She felt her heart drop as she heard her turret finally jam and stop firing. Cursing again under her breath, she tried to tell the gun to un-jam itself, but the coding of the turret's semi-automatic tracking was nearly unintelligible. How Scooter had manage to make these cars work without them shooting their own driver was a mystery to her. Still within the turret's programming, she counted the remaining enemies. There were at least thirty, all with weapons drawn, waiting for her to fire back now that the turret had apparently stopped. She pulled out of her Phaseshift and gave the turret a kick.

"Stupid piece of junk!"

Knees pressed up against her chest in the space of the driver's seat, her mind raced, trying to think of a way out of this situation. Her tires were long gone, having been punctured somewhere in the initial assault by one of the bandits. Even if she could force the car to move, there were no guarantees the bandits wouldn't simply chase her down in their own vehicles. The turret was jammed, she didn't expect it to ever work again. She had bullets but, if her aim from last night was anything to go by, she wouldn't be able to pick off all the enemies while being pinned down in this spot. She chided herself for picking such a restricted area to fall asleep in, but knew that she had had very little choice to begin with. Gripping rifle with a grim look on her face, the girl prepared to fight to the death.

Then, there was a gunshot.

It came from the opposite direction, near where the plateau had shattered and sheared, leaving rubble strewn across the desert floor. Angel frowned. There hadn't been any bandits over there and the location was a good hundred meters away. But before she had a chance to ponder this further, she heard the panicked screaming of a victim.

"Ah! Oh god! I'm burning! Put it out! Put it O-urgh…"

Another shot silenced his screams. Angel didn't dare move. Whoever this newcomer was, they were deadly accurate. However, the bandits either didn't notice this or, taking confidence in their numbers, didn't care. She heard the lead bruiser call out to the gathered bandits, and several responses.

"We got ourselves a hero here!"

"Who the hell are you?"

"You're gonna pay for that!"

The remaining bandits leapt into action. Turning their attention towards the rocks, they unloaded bullet after bullet at the location the shot had come from. Angel crouched in the small space of her driver's seat, straining to hear what was going on. It seemed like the bandits had started fighting the newcomer. Was it friend or foe? She could hear the high pitched screams of a midget, presumably the one she had let go the day before.

"There he is! Shoot him! Kill him!"

More gunfire, this time closer to her crippled racer. More bullets bounced off the shell, shaking the racer slightly. In response, she ducked her head further into the compartment. More screams were coming from the bandit group, this time in pain.

"What's your name! NOOOOOO!"

"He's behind us! Get him!"

"Keep shooting!"

A rifle shot rang out, reverberating loudly off the rock wall. Angel could smell burning flesh. It was a harsh, raw smell. Her stomach churned slightly before her situation turned her mind back to the battle. The small alcove was vibrating with noise as the battle raged on just a few meters from where she hid. There was an explosion from a grenade, followed by the roars of various bruisers, who all seemed to still be stubbornly firing away. But one rifle continued to sound, ringing out over the cacophony of noise. It was a mesmerizingly rhythmic noise. One… two… three… she counted thirteen shots before there was a pause as this unknown assailant reloaded. Then the rifle resumed its job. Angel coughed as smoke drifted into her hiding spot.

"Noo! I don't wanna die!"

"Blast him!"

"It's just one guy! SHOOT HIM!"

Time stretched and, soon, Angel was no longer sure how long she had been crouching in that broken racer. As if in answer, there was final gunshot, followed by the panicky whimpers of a midget as it squirmed away the last traces of its life. Angel held her breath. A few heart pounding seconds later and all was quiet save for the slight crackling of fires burning nearby. She poked her head out from behind her cover and surveyed the battlefield. Angel gasped. It was a mess of blood and burning body parts. Some bodies looked disemboweled, others charred, many more were simply riddled with bullet holes. Her imagination ran, wondering what kind of weapon could cause this much destruction.

The sound of a rifle being cocked and readied snapped her out of her reverie.

She found herself staring down the barrel of a powerful looking Maliwan rifle, held by a figure hidden by the shadows of the rock. Still several meters away, the gun that had slain many with ease gave off a menacing aura. The barrel glowed a steady orange and the thing looked to be at least twice as heavy as the old Jakobs in her hands. Shakily, she dropped her rifle, raising her hands in surrender. Her eyes shut tightly in fear. She could hear the person breathing lightly. The sand crunched softly as the figure approached. Angel swallowed hard. She hadn't even made it halfway to Sanctuary and now she would die, alone in this barren wasteland.

'Damn it…'

She prepared for the inevitable. A tear leaked out from between her eyelids as she lamented her fate, frustrated that her life was over before it really began. The footsteps drew closer now. Her heart hammered away in her ears and time seemed to slow again. The unbearable silence dragged on. She began to wonder if the person had left. But then, a voice, distorted by what she always assumed was a modulator, spoke in a soft tone.

"My eyes deceive me. / The deceased stand before me. / Is it a phantom?"

Angel froze. She recognized that pattern of speech anywhere. Her eyes shot open, staring at the person standing not a meter away, still holding the Maliwan rifle at the ready.

"Zer0?"

…

A/N: Hope this chapter was up to your expectations. Leave a review if you enjoyed it. It's always nice to see people enjoying my work.

And now for the important stuff.

Bottom line is, I'm a 22 year old grad student who's currently applying for a research fellowship. I have recently been focusing mostly on this, but I'm also busy with tests and other research. Needless to say, I don't have a lot of time to do research for this story (obviously by playing Borderlands 2) and writing it. So this is what I'm proposing:

I will attempt to bring you a chapter every week, most likely on Saturday/Sunday like this chapter was (okay so it's actually Friday still, but you get what I mean).

Now, I have never forced myself to keep any kind of schedule before, mainly because I've always written in areas that didn't have as much attention at the time. But I decided you folks deserve at least this much from me. So that's going to be the plan for now.

Fingers crossed, let's see how long this lasts.

See you next Saturday.

Zetsumei


	3. Remembering

A/N: I'd like to say it's amazing how quickly this has caught on. I'm glad you're all enjoying this and many thanks for the reviews. Critiques are always welcome. I'm always looking for ways to make the story flow better and the characters more well defined.

To MEleSmasher: Okay, I might have been too hasty in my response from last week… I _might_ do that thing I said I wasn't going to do… no guarantees. Your suggestions always get me thinking of new scenarios.

Note: Jack's recordings in the "Get to Know Jack" side mission are malleable to an extent. Obviously some belong in certain time points (1 and 2), but I think the other three can be moved around. Likely, the order I will be working with (probably) looks something like this: 1, 3, 2, 5, then 4.

Note 2: Note 1 might be less relevant until later, but I thought I'd mention it now. It'll be mentioned again for reference later.

Note 3: So I realized I was accidentally calling the runner a racer. Fucks given: …1 Okay, so I did consider going back through and changing them, but then decided it was too much of a hassle. So racer it will stay, but I'll change it in this chapter.

Note 4(10-13-12): I've had to repost this chapter due to a strange miscommunication. I seem to have given off the wrong impression of Zer0 near the end, resulting in some misconceptions that bug me a bit. I've added a bit more clarification without removing any of the original text.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 2 – Remembering

Angel couldn't believe her stroke of luck. One of the new Vault Hunters had somehow been wandering around the Dust. Luckier yet, he had somehow found this spot in the middle of nowhere. Silently, she was in awe. Though Angel had seen the four new Vault Hunters work in tandem, tearing though everything Jack had sent at them, she had never seen them fight individually. Now the sheer finesse of this strange, somewhat-clichéd, assassin was shown in full. Lowering her hands, she let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in fear.

"Oh my god. Zer0… thank you. I thought I was a goner there for sure! Where are the others?"

The assassin didn't respond. Nor did he lower his weapon. At this distance, she could feel the heat emanating from the barrel of the fire-based Maliwan rifle. Suddenly, she felt nervous again. Did he not recognize her? No, he had clearly recognized her. Did he still consider her the enemy? Her heart sank with that thought. Was he still resentful for what she had done? A possibility, for the assassin looked to have every intent on shooting her on the spot. She spoke, stuttering ever so slightly.

"Zer0… It-it's me. Angel… please… please don't shoot me… I… I'm sorry for helping Jack lower the Sanctuary shields…"

There was a short pause before the man moved. The rifle barrel lowered a few centimeters, but not completely. The tall assassin muttered softly to himself.

"The ghost speaks to me, / Voices from beyond the grave. / I don't understand."

Angel frowned, tension evaporating from her body, giving way to welcome relief. It seemed he thought she was some kind of spirit. At the least he didn't appear to be holding any serious grudge. She shook her head slightly, moving to reach out to him.

"No… I'm alive. Well, still alive thanks to you."

The assassin took a step back, an exclamation mark suddenly being projected from his helmet. The gun barrel trembled uncertainly as he returned to an aiming stance.

"A trick of my eyes? / Am I hallucinating? / Be gone foul spirit!"

While Angel found it mildly amusing that the cold and calculating assassin seemed to be afraid of the supernatural, it didn't change the fact that he was now pointing a loaded weapon at her for completely different reasons. He also didn't seem to be listening to her, which annoyed her greatly for some reason.

"Zer0! You're being ridiculous! I'm not a ghost or whatever your crazy imagination is telling you! Ask Ellie if you really want!"

The assassin appeared to consider doing so. Finally, he lowered his rifle completely. Angel gave a weary sigh of relief. Climbing out of her ruined vehicle, she grabbed her pack and turned to face Zer0.

"What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? How did you even find this place?"

The obscured face regarded her carefully.

"Preparing for war, / I entered this barren waste. / I heard the gunfire."

Angel paused, translating his strange speech patterns as Zer0 began shifting around the bandits' remains, looking for anything remotely useful.

"Training? What for? Where are the others? Did Roland and Lilith make it out okay?"

His back turned to her, the assassin did not speak immediately. Angel wondered if he had heard her at all.

"Zer0…?"

Finally, he turned to face her. The expressionless helmet spoke a single line, slowly and hesitantly.

"The Leader is dead, / Slain by the coward named Jack. / It could not be stopped."

Angel froze. There was suddenly a loud ringing in her ears. Her breath caught in her lungs. She choked out a few words.

"W-what did you just say?"

The assassin's shoulders slumped briefly, an almost unnoticeable gesture. Zer0 continued.

"At the battle's end, / Jack attacked us from behind. / Roland took the hit."

Angel looked panicky. Scrambling for answers, she posed the obvious question.

"B…but the New-U stations… Why didn't he get revived?"

Zer0 shook his head.

"That I do not know. / Many things remain untold. / I too want answers."

Angel felt sick. It seemed that her death was in vain. Feeling like she knew the answer already, she forced herself to ask the next question.

"And Lilith?"

A similarly hollow sounding response.

"Forcibly taken, / Jack has but one plan for her: / To charge the Vault Key."

The young girl buried her face in her hands, collapsing to her knees in from a combination of exhaustion and frustration.

"But… But you guys won, didn't you? How… how could this happen? What was all that planning for? What… what did I die for…?"

The last part of the sentence was uttered softly. The assassins voice came softly, full of regret.

"We four were to blame. / For lacking in vigilance, / A good man was lost."

After this, Zer0 became silent. Angel remained on the sand for some time, head bowed. Finally, she spoke in a small voice.

"We have to save Lilith…"

Zer0 gave a short sigh.

"The obvious path, / But plans have yet to be made. / Do you wish to join?"

The young Siren nodded and tiredly picked up her fallen pack. Noticing something in the blood stained sand, Zer0 bent down and grabbed something. The assassin held out a bloodied piece of electronics. It was a shield, surprisingly intact after the hail of bullets and fire. Angel looked a bit confused as well as disgusted. The small metal device still had a bit of an ear sticking to it. With a light shake, Zer0 gave it a cursory cleaning and then proffered it to her again. The girl poked at it gingerly with a finger.

"This is for…?"

Despite the helmet covering his face, his gestures seemed exasperated.

"You are not shielded, / With nothing but cloth armor. / Do you wish to die?"

Looking entirely displeased, Angel took the shield and attached it to her belt. She grimaced as she spoke.

"Well, no… but I think I would just wind up at the New-U station at Ellie's if I did…probably? I'm not entirely sure how this all happened in the first place…"

Zer0 shook his head.

"Don't be so careless. / Such an unstable system, / I would not trust it."

Angel considered this. Then a thought occurred to her. She jogged a bit to catch up to Zer0 who had began walking.

"Hey, when you guys use New-U stations, it's usually pretty fast right? I mean, it's almost instantaneous."

He nodded. Angel paused, gathering her thoughts. It still felt awkward talking about her own death.

"Did you guys see me… disappear by any chance?"

He shook his head.

"Then… what happened to my old body?"

Zer0 shrugged and then spoke.

"Lilith got us out. / No one stayed there much longer. / Jack claims you are dead."

Still feeling stunned by all the new information, Angel plodded on behind Zer0 in silence. They approached his runner, a tan colored vehicle that almost blended into the background, which was hidden about a mile away. Angel tossed her bag into the gunner's seat.

"Can you take me to a Catch-a-Ride Station? I still want to go to Sanctuary. I… I want to talk to Mordecai about all… this."

She waved a hand lamely. The assassin regarded her calmly.

"Why were you driving? / It is more convenient / Using Fast-Travel."

Angel frowned, his speech pattern once again making her pause before answering in a tired voice.

"I'm not registered with any of the Fast-Travel Stations… except Ellie's place for some reason."

There was a short pause before Zer0 let out a long sigh and placed a hand on his helmet in annoyance. Then, he climbed into the driver's seat. Gesturing to the seat, he spoke in a somewhat resigned tone.

"I can train later, / There is nothing for me here. / I will go with you."

Angel gave a small smile, unseen by the assassin.

"Thanks, Zer0."

As she climbed into her seat, she asked offhandedly.

"By the way, why do you speak like that? I've always wondered."

Zer0 paused, about to start the vehicle. He seemed to think about it for a moment before answering.

"A force of habit, / I am accustomed to it. / I speak how I please."

She thought about this and posed another question.

"Then, may I ask something of you?"

Sounding slightly annoyed, the assassin turned his head towards her.

"So full of questions, / I will humor your request. / What is it you need?"

Angel hesitated, wondering if what she was about to ask might be considered rude. But she had to try. Steeling herself, she asked her question.

"Could you… could you not speak like that? It gets a bit confusing."

There was a heavy pause between the two. An ellipsis appeared from his helmet, the three dots projected just in front of the faceplate. Angel squirmed slightly under the blank stare from the masked assassin. She couldn't tell if he was angry or annoyed. Actually, she couldn't see anything through the tinted helmet. He could have been making faces at her for all she knew. But somehow, the image didn't fit the assassin. He placed a hand on the key. In the small moment before starting the engine, the assassin spoke, quite clearly.

"No."

He gunned the engine and they took off into the desert.

…

"Maya! Hey, Maya! Slow down!"

A man with brown spiky hair and dressed in army wear ran worriedly after the blue-haired Siren. Behind the two was a trail of bodies, mangled, imploded, and generally shot to hell. Corpses lined the artificial path of destruction, which wound through the landscape of Frostburn Canyon. Even the heartiest of Nomads had been crushed and flung aside like rag dolls. The soldier shuddered at the sight around him. When the four Vault Hunters had gone through this place, even with Lilith provoking the bandits, it hadn't been this messy. The Siren had arrived several minutes before the soldier and began tearing the place asunder. Axton, could only follow her as she trekked deeper into the canyon.

It happened after they had gone around town to let people know what had happened at the Hyperion Bunker. Axton had gone with Maya as they spoke with Marcus and then Moxxi while Salvador and Zer0 spoke to Scooter and Zed. The shapely bartender had tried to laugh it off, reminding herself off when she had met Roland. But even a strong woman like Moxxi had ended up breaking down, turning away from them as she wept bitterly behind the bar. After that, Maya had abruptly run off, locking herself in her room in the house next to the Crimson Raiders' Headquarters. The four Vault Hunters had taken the empty house when the original owner had died in the lunar bombardment prior to Sanctuary's maiden voyage. Salvador and Zer0 had arrived shortly thereafter. With a sour look on his face, Salvador had thrown himself on a nearby couch with a bottle of spiderant tequila in his hands.

"Shit."

The dwarf had proceeded to down the entire bottle and throw it at the wall in anger before moving back into the kitchen to grab another. The assassin had said nothing. The expressionless man had eventually turned and left the building, leaving Axton to wonder where he had gone. After having a drink himself, he had retired for the night, only waking when he heard the door to Maya's room open and shut, followed by the sound of the front door closing. Curious and slightly worried, he had followed.

Now, as he watched, the Siren's submachine gun ran empty. Maya threw the gun down in disgust and digistructed an assault rifle from her pack. Several bandits chose to ambush her as she switched weapons. Reaching out she plucked each one up with her Phaselock ability and imploded them one at a time without a second thought. This struck the soldier as odd. He had never seen her do such an act before. Sensing something was amiss, he quickened his pace and grabbed her tattooed shoulder.

"I said wait up!"

Axton drew back. The Siren's once beautiful face was a mess. Tears flowed continuously down her face, smudging her mascara. Her eyes were red and puffy, the soldier was unsure of how long she had been crying. For an instant, Axton thought of how beautiful she looked in that moment, but a stream of blood coming from her nose shocked him back to reality.

"You're bleeding!"

Maya roughly swiped a hand across her face, smearing the blood. She looked angrily at the man who had interrupted her rampage.

"What?!"

Stunned by this response, Axton could only gape. Maya turned and continued storming down the icy corridor. The soldier reached out, calling after her.

"Wait!"

But before he could move, a massive wall of flesh landed with a thundering boom not a meter away from him. The Badass Nomad swung his shield, knowing Axton back a few paces. Growling in frustration, he tossed his turret with practiced precision. As the turret deployed behind the Nomad, the soldier drew his weapon. The Nomad, stuck trying to decide which of the two threats to defend against, had quickly been turned to mincemeat by both. Axton grabbed the turret as it collapsed into a portable state and ran off after the enraged Siren. After a minute of running, he screeched to a halt. Straining his ears, he listened around him.

It was silent.

There were no more gunshots, there was no more screaming. Mind racing, Axton resumed his chase. Nimbly dodging Lilith's old traps, he practically flew across the chasm. Looking down, he saw new bodies impaled on the steel spikes. Ignoring them, he bounded over the second gap and crossed into Lilith's old hideout. A figure lay motionless in the center of the platform. Increasing his pace, he rushed over.

"Maya!"

He called her name again, crouching and helping her sit up. She responded this time, no longer in a fit of rage. Her voice shook with sadness as she spoke, half crying.

"I… I c-could feel it… When that b-bastard took her… When R-Roland died…"

She pounded a clenched fist weakly against his chest.

"I should have s-stopped him… Dammit, I could have s-saved her!"

Her arm fell as her shoulders trembled. Axton didn't know what to say, his ex-wife had always said he was terrible at comforting people with words. And so he held her as she cried.

"I couldn't do a goddamn thing! What use is this power if I couldn't even save the ones close to me?"

Axton mused on that one moment. All his training couldn't prevent a good soldier from dying a dog's death. They all knew it had been unavoidable, but none seemed willing to admit it. As they were still in shock at the younger Siren's death, they failed to notice Jack until it was too late. Lilith had lashed out in anger, her powers flaring and affecting everyone nearby in a small way. Axton himself had felt a bit nauseous as the red-haired Siren's energy swept through him. But a moment later, Jack had calmly thrust a shackle around her neck, rendering her under his control. And the next instant, before anyone could retaliate, it was over. Mordecai had been furious. Losing three of his best friends had not been easy on the man.

The soldier sat in silence, the sounds of weeping echoing softly throughout the icy cavern. Minutes passed, and then an hour. Eventually, he felt the lamenting girl fall limp in his arms. Maya had cried herself into a fitful exhaustion. He looked down at her sleeping face, still scrunched up in anguish. With a soft sigh, he grabbed a clean towel from his pack and wiped away the tears and the fresh blood from her face.

"Come on, let's get you home…"

With that the soldier scooped up the unconscious Siren in his arms. He was amazed at how light she was. Holding her as if she were made of porcelain, he carried her back to the Fast-Travel Station and back to Sanctuary.

…

It was just after three in the morning. Angel huddled in her blanket, shivering slightly from the desert night air, and tried to stave off the boredom. While they were driving, she and Zer0 had agreed to keep watch in five hour shifts whenever they decided to stop for the night, allowing both adequate rest before setting off again. She had blissfully nodded off on the sandy desert floor just after they stopped for the night at the foot of a small mountain jutting out from the sands. Naturally, this had forced Zer0 to keep the first watch. Using her blanket as a mat, the soft sand, which still had some lingering warmth from the day's sunlight, was surprisingly comfortable. It was a welcome change from the car seat in which she had unthinkingly slept the night before. While it had been a painful ordeal to wake up at around one in the morning, she had convinced herself that she could eventually sleep while Zer0 drove. However, she quickly found out that five hours with no one to talk to, and virtually no noise save for the light breathing coming from the driver's seat, was a very, very long time.

She now sat in the gunner's seat, staring at the vast emptiness around them. Zer0 had a rather strange sleeping position. Forgoing the comfort of the sands, he had chosen to sleep in the driver's seat. Perhaps it was a precautionary action in the event that they needed to make a quick getaway from any potential enemies, but he seemed comfortable enough. His chest rose and fell slowly and his still helmeted head drooped against his chest. Angel let out a shuddering breath, watching as a faint white cloud formed in front of her face. She had initially been fascinated by the night. In the morning hours, the sky had truly been pitch black, making each individual star shine even brighter. But, as new as she was to this physical world, she soon grew bored, and resorted to fiddling with the turret controls, making the seat spin smoothly this way and that.

That source of entertainment lasted about two minutes.

She inadvertently turned her mind to the events in recent years. At the time, Angel had hesitantly, though obediently, followed Jack's every command. She mulled this over as she shifted in her seat in a fruitless attempt at comfort. Distractedly, she rubbed at her neck, taking comfort in the absence of that useless collar.

…

_Three years. She had grown accustomed to that isolation chamber on Eden-6. In fact, the young Angel didn't mind it so much anymore. For given all the time in the world to develop her power, she could leave the isolation chamber whenever she wanted to._

_Mentally, of course._

_Somewhere in all that time, Angel, age 12, had immersed her mind in the Hyperion network, so much that she may as well have been a rouge A.I. She hid in the security holes, avoided shabby firewalls, and thwarted Hyperion's I.T. department for many months. It was almost like a game. Through that network, she saw the beauty of Eden-6: the towering skyscrapers, the numerous apartments, the quiet suburbs that reminded her of home. All this she saw through the lens of a high definition camera. Boasting the lowest crime rate in the six galaxies, the Capitol was outfitted with a state of the art surveillance system, of which she was thankful. In the last six months, the total time she had spent in the physical world probably amounted to a day or so. She lived and breathed in the virtual network, coming out of extensive dives only to eat and be poked by needles._

_But she was never completely free. A few months back, Jack had fashioned a choker in order to control her powers. She was young, but she knew a shock collar when she saw one. Jack created it to allow the scientists to perform more invasive tests, even going as far as bringing her out of containment for full body scans. From her own experience, the device interfered with the energy flowing through her body. If she tried to use her powers with the collar turned on, she would get a nasty shock, one that nearly knocked her out and would leave her muscles twitching for hours._

_And so the first chance she got, she deactivated the device when some scientists turned it off to run some tests inside the containment chamber. Continuing to wear it to give the illusion that she was compliant, she started keeping one virtual eye on her isolation chamber whenever she dived, just in case. Now, pretending to be asleep, she dived into the network, relishing in the liberating feel of the virtual world. In there, she heard a familiar voice yelling._

"_If I'm going to have that position, I need to know what Atlas is up to! They're Hyperion's only real competitor and that sack of shit of a president isn't going to do squat if we don't act NOW!"_

_A sleazy voice sounded, she recognized it as Jeffrey Blake. He and Jack were holding a private conference in an abandoned control room._

"_Sir, we don't even have access to proper satellite feeds."_

_Seeking to redeem herself in her father's eyes, the twelve year old girl acted._

"_I can help with that."_

_She spoke through a nearby monitor. Jeffrey jumped, but her father simply strode over to the monitor, slamming a hand down next to the screen. Jack's rage was almost tangible._

"_Who let you use your powers?"_

_Ignoring his query, she deftly hacked through the Atlas Corporation's databanks, bringing up several documents._

"_It seems that Atlas is after something called the Vault on the border world of Pandora."_

_Blake looked impressed, his eyebrows raised as he peered over Jack's shoulder. After a moment, Jack spoke. It was a tone he had never used with her before._

"_Good girl, Angel…"_

_She failed to notice the scheming smile that appeared on his face as he memorized Atlas's plans._

…

Angel sighed from her seat in the runner. She had longed for acknowledgment from the man she used to call father. His praise, no matter how false, would always make her feel just a bit happier than any else she did. The young girl buried her head in shame, recalling all the orders she had blithely followed, each one a bit more questionable than the next. She stayed that way for a while. A light breeze blew across the dunes.

'_Well, that's not entirely true…'_

She peeked over her knees at the figure sleeping less than a meter away. There was only one time she couldn't fulfill Jack's wishes.

…

"_W-w-what do you mean not human? Is he a robot? An alien? What?"_

_Jack never did like wishy-washy answers. But for once, even with all the surveillance technology of Hyperion at her disposal, she had been stumped._

_Angel._

_She, a Siren with almost complete mastery over anything electronic in nature, with the intelligence comparable to some of Hyperion's greatest supercomputers, could find no solid evidence to the true nature of the being that suddenly popped up on Hyperion's radar. It was just like those old movies the scientists liked to watch on their breaks, the ones where some cheesy hero would just appear out of nowhere, taking a quiet town plagued by bandits by surprise. She couldn't stand those films. And so, Angel did everything in her power to spy on the man. Never, in the entire time while she was gathering data on Vault Hunters for Jack, had she piled so much time and energy into watching one man. And yet, she had come up with nothing. Jack had eventually stated that he didn't much care anymore and told her to send him an invite onto the Hyperion train. Apparently the charging time of the Vault Key had gone up slightly due to her attention elsewhere. She had obeyed._

_It was a complete defeat._

_She had lost in every way._

_And she hated losing._

…

And now, the answer to something that had kept her up for nights after the invites were sent out, was sitting not two meters away from her. An incredibly crafty idea formed in her mind as she watched the man's chest rise and fall in a deep slumber. She licked her lips hungrily, like a predator stalking her prey, and quietly slipped out of her blanket. Unlacing her boots silently, she climbed out of the gunner's seat. Gently lowering herself to the ground, her bare feet made barely a noise as it touched the sand. She tiptoed carefully to where the mysterious assassin slept.

'_Moment of truth…'_

With lightly trembling hands, the young girl gently tugged at the dark helmet, which came off with surprising ease. It appeared that he had loosened helmet enough to let in some of the night air. Angel let out an inaudible gasp. White hair, so white it seemed to glow in the pale moonlight, spilt out from beneath the helmet. She guessed it was medium in length, perhaps just past the ears. Each individual strand looked incredibly fine, almost like the gossamer strands spiders would use to make their webs back home on Eden-6. His skin was pale, as white as the peaks of Three Horns, but seemed warm to the touch. The face was thin and sharply formed, with an intricate tattoo above and below the right eye, ending in arrow points. But what caught her eyes wasn't the hair, or even the narrow facial structure, distinctly slanted eyes, and sharp nose. It was his ears. The man's ears were pointed, and angled back ever so slightly. The skin near the tips seemed to shift slightly, becoming rough and even a bit scaly. While proportional to his head, the young girl couldn't help but think they were slightly larger than an average human's were. Unthinkingly, the reached out to touch them.

It was over in an instant.

A gloved hand shot out and grabbed her own. In an almost weightless manner, the lithe figure sprang from the driver's seat and dragged the Siren to the ground. Her back hit the sand with a dull thud as the air whooshed out of her lungs. Blinking the stars away, she tried to reorient herself. A cold blue blade was suddenly pressed against her throat and a hand, stronger than steel, grasped her bandaged shoulder and held her still. Eyes wide with surprise, shock and fright, Angel could do little else but stare up at the face, once peacefully asleep, but now twisted in rage. The assassin now crouched over her, face upside down in her perspective. Eyes widened in recognition and, in the moonlight, the young girl caught a glimpse of ruby red irises with thin reptilian pupils. The thin lips curled in a snarl of fury. Without moving the blade even a millimeter, a cold voice hissed out.

"Why?"

…

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Zer0. Yup.

So I apparently made Zer0 some kind of mix between several fantasy beasts, Asians, albinos, every "mysterious wanderer" cliché I could think of, tweaking things here and there… (if you didn't pick up on this, sorry for bursting your imaginative bubble.) I apparently have little imagination when coming up with designs with which I have no working knowledge of. I juggled around the idea that Zer0 is an Eridian and, personally, I liked it. It seemed to fit with both his body structure, hands, and use of a helmet.

(New Note: I had intended on him being more draconian than elven. Sorry if I gave off the wrong impression due to my notes.)

He was always gonna be an Eridian in my head, I just wasn't sure how Eridians… look.

*shrugs*

See you next week.


	4. Learning

A/N: Sorry for the delay, went out drinking with an old friend. In addition to tests restricting my writing time, part of this chapter may or may not have been written while drunk (good thing there's proofreading).

You guys never fail to impress. In three chapters, this is by far my most popular piece of work. I can't emphasize how much I appreciate your support. Lots of things to say first. Welp, here we go.

General reactions to me attempting to define Zer0's appearance was about what I expected: Some people were up for it, others had something else in mind, and some were WAY off the mark (unfortunately due to initial draft errors on my part).

**In all honesty, come up with whatever image you want, it won't change what I will end up writing. Bottom line is, I'm working with the idea that he's and ERIDIAN, sans appearance.**

**To Stazlerous and others**: Since others had similar thoughts, I'll repeat this regarding Eridians. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm quite sure there has been no mention or indication of what Eridians look like. I've done my research, both checking what I can in Borderlands and using the wikia whenever there were holes I couldn't figure out. I found a lovely discussion where people went back and forth debating what they were (and forced myself to read through the somewhat faulty arguments)

I believe what you and others are thinking of are the enemies near the end of Borderlands, the Guardians, which are golem-like constructs that the Eridians made to guard the Vault. I haven't found any indication of otherwise.

**To Curtisimo**: Thanks a lot, I'm not sure what you were referring to, but I did see one "any" which probably should have been "anything". I do quite a bit of proofreading, but I guess small mistakes still make it through. And yeah, I got the reactions I expected from trying to create Zer0's appearance from scratch, but I wanted to give it a go anyway.

Note: Some of you have expressed an interest in Gaige being in this story. I have to admit, her ECHOs (1-4) are pretty interesting and her character would be pretty fun to write (ESPECIALLY the dad). I actually think I can get away with putting her anywhere in the story, even as a random encounter. The reasoning behind this is, at the end of her ECHO recordings, she is simply going to Pandora to escape. As far as I'm concerned, she was NOT scouted or invited by Jack on the initial bombing (though, of course, it is implied that she was on the train based on how the game stays the same regardless of which character you use). I think there's a recent story that has her board the train because it's either that or be a bandit. But anyway, I will have to think about this. I don't want to make her place in this story seem forced, but I have an idea of where I would like her to show up in the future.

Also, I'll probably do the Captain Scarlett DLC after the main story line, I've been hammered by tests and presentations this week and also the next two weeks. I'll get the DLC once I survive this wave.

Sorry for the wall of text, here's a chapter.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 3 – Learning

"Why?"

The assassin growled out again. Angel shook like a leaf in the wind. Even when she had been ambushed by bandits, even when she had been surrounded by a firing squad, she had not been this frightened. And the eyes, they terrified her. The twin slits dilated ever so slightly in the dim moonlight as they stared accusingly down at her. She felt small and vulnerable, her muscles tense from the fall. Every nerve in her body screamed out, telling her she was in real danger. Anger and killing intent spilled from the man she had been traveling with. The curiosity that drove her to act moments ago was nowhere to be found. In that moment, her bravery failed her. She felt tears come to her eyes as she stared up at the furious man.

"I… I…"

The blade pressed down, making the slightest of nicks on her exposed neck when she swallowed. A thin line of blood welled up, but she didn't notice it. Her jaw trembled violently making speaking difficult. The assassin seemed to be considering his options. The digistructed blade hummed ever so slightly. At its distance, she could faintly feel the energy pulsating from the edge. Forcing herself to speak, she tried to calm the assassin down.

"I'm sorry… I… I just wanted to…"

At the sound of her voice, the man's face darkened. He leaned in so close that his hair brushed against her face. The assassin hissed out angrily.

"Wanted to what? What could you possibly gain from this?"

The fact that Zer0 abandoned his normal speech patterns fell on deaf ears. She was completely terrified. Struggling feebly, she tried to move her neck away from the blade, but both it and the hand against her shoulder held fast. Tears flowed freely down the young girl's face as she cried in fear.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Her vision blurred and she was forced to close her eyes. The arm that held her down trembled briefly and then let go. Afraid that the assassin had decided to end it, she froze. Her heart echoed loudly in her ears as her body tensed. But nothing happened. Angel's eyes opened hesitatingly, twitching in discomfort from the salty tears that still flowed from them. Both the blade and the man had gone. Pushing herself into a half-sitting position, she glanced around, panic welling up inside.

She was alone.

"Zer0?"

Silence was all that responded. An eerie quiet had fallen on the makeshift campsite.

"Zer0… I'm sorry… please come back…"

There was no response. She noticed his footsteps went into the distance, around the mountain near which the runner had been parked. Worried that he was gone for good, she yelled out his name.

"Zer0!"

Her voice echoed in the barren desert, bouncing off the mountainside.

"Don't leave me… Please don't leave me…"

A quiet voice, barely a whisper now. The young Siren kneeled in the twilight hours and cried. She hated herself in that moment more than she ever did in those ten years in that isolation chamber. This time, it was not because she thought herself a monster, nor for helping Jack accomplish his terrible goals, but because she knew she had screwed up, badly. The man wore the helmet for a reason. And despite the obvious signs of wanting his identity to remain concealed, she had taken advantage of his inattentiveness and lost to her curiosity. The only person to help her had abandoned her, just like everyone else in her life.

All because of her own stupidity.

…

In the early hours of the morning, a weary soldier watched over a blue-haired Siren as she rested in her room in Sanctuary. The young woman remained unconscious, barely stirring as Axton brushed several strands of hair off of her face. The man was at a loss. He knew that, with the state they were in at the moment, they wouldn't be able to take on Jack and Hyperion, much less stop the summoning of the Warrior. Standing, he let Maya rest and went back downstairs into the kitchen area. He poured himself a glass of rakk ale and sat at the counter. As he raised the glass to take a swig, the front door slammed open, causing him to spill a bit of his drink. A drunk looking dwarf entered and groggily made his way over. Salvador looked at the soldier sitting at the counter, eyes half-focused on the man.

"Where'd you go earlier?"

Axton set the glass down and wiped the counter with a spare rag.

"Maya ran off to Frostburn Canyon. I went and brought her back."

Salvador regarded Axton blearily, unsatisfied by the simple explanation.

"She alright?"

Sighing, the commando took a hearty gulp before answering.

"I dunno. She was pretty broken up about Lilith and Roland. I think she overused her power. She's been out of it since we got back."

Shaking his head and muttering a curse, the gunzerker leaned against a wall. Axton spoke again.

"What've you been up to?"

Salvador snorted.

"Drinking. What else, estúpido?"

Axton frowned slightly, understanding the last bit.

"Moxxi's?"

The dwarf shook his head.

"Mordecai. Poor bastard needed someone to drink with."

The brown-haired soldier sighed, looking over at his comrade who now had his eyes closed as he rested against the wall.

"God dammit, we can't just sit around moping until Jack wakes the warrior. There's gotta be something we can do."

Salvador scoffed lightly.

"You've got one drunk sniper and a missing berserker. You got any idea where to go? Cuz I don't know much of Pandora outside of Ovejas, even less on Hyperion."

Axton paused, sliding his glass across the bar towards the sink.

"Wait, hold on, missing? Where's Brick?"

The dwarf shrugged, eyes still closed.

"I think he went to kill stuff. Looked pretty mad."

The soldier ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I just hate sitting around here doing nothing…"

The gunzerker opened his eyes, a wide grin on his face.

"I know how to fix that."

Axton looked quizzically at the shorter man. He continued.

"Let's go kills stuff."

Letting out a deep sigh, Axton nodded.

"Might as well, we might be able to find something of use. Let me check on Maya before we go."

Trekking back upstairs, Axton found the blue-haired Siren exactly as he had left her. He sat down next her bed and placed a hand on hers. She still looked to be in some pain, but seemed to be more relaxed than earlier. The man spoke, somewhat awkwardly, in a soft voice.

"Well, um, Salvador and I are gonna go kill some stuff to kill time… take… take care, I guess."

He mentally kicked himself on how lame that sounded. Unsure of what else to say to the unconscious Siren, he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. The young woman didn't move, the rise and fall of her chest the only thing indicating she was even alive. After a few seconds, he turned and trudged back downstairs where the gunzerker was standing near the door, impatience written all over his face.

"Venga, puta, my buzz is wearing off."

Resignedly, Axton followed the ornery dwarf to the Fast-Travel Station.

…

He had not the strength to walk any further. A couple hundred meters away from the runner, Zer0 leaned back against the mountainside and let out a frustrated sigh. He dropped his blade onto the sand and watched as the light blue steel shattered and faded to nothing. For several minutes, he merely stood there. The desperate cries of the young Siren still echoed in his ears. Slowly, the man slid into a sitting position and bowed his head.

Why had she done it?

The assassin remained sitting as he pondered this question, forehead resting wearily on his knees, body aching from the rude awakening. When Zer0 first came to Pandora, he had made note of the various methods Hyperion had implemented in order to keep track of various people. He heard about the brutality of their leader, Jack, and carefully stayed under the radar. He had been careful not to reveal his race to anyone, almost to the point of paranoia. For he did not want to find out what that man was willing to do with such a unique specimen. And yet the curious little Siren had managed to find out. Of all people, the young girl who knew nothing about survival, and even less about stealth, had managed to remove his helmet while he slept.

He blamed himself.

Even when travelling with the other three Vault Hunters, he would stay alert, wary of attack and, initially, of his own comrades. But as time went on, he grew to trust them more, and knew that they respected his personal space. It probably also had something to do with the one time a bandit had tried to rob him when he was sleeping and he gutted the man, he mused sullenly. What was so different about this time? The assassin massaged his forehead with one hand and leaned back against the cliff wall.

It was because he was with her.

Though Zer0 had only met the girl once briefly before she died, her voice was always with the Vault Hunters, always guiding them, even if some of it had been according to Jack's plans. But she was always that to them, just a voice. She was a transient being, sometimes speaking, other times silent for long periods of time. Maybe his body had felt like he was travelling alone, despite the living and breathing human in the back seat of the runner. Maybe that was the reason he had let his guard down. Or maybe, just maybe, he had trusted her, despite all the lies, despite all the deceit. After all, he had watched her father, they all had. Watched as he told one boldfaced lie after another. It was not hard to tell, even through a video feed. There was no love in those eyes as he begged them not to kill the girl.

There was only fear.

But that fear without love was crueler than anything Zer0 had seen on this godforsaken planet. As the assassin fought alongside his comrades, fending off wave after wave of loaders, they had noticed the discrepancies. When he threatened them, his words held no weight. When he pleaded with Angel, he sounded more concerned for about himself than the girl caged in the charging chamber. And no matter how the man pleaded, never did he once try to stop the young Siren from helping them. She had pushed her power to its limits, struggling to resupply their weapons as their supplies ran empty time after time. Even when she was down to the last Eridian injector, her last lifeline, she had kept it up. No, the man wasn't afraid of his daughter's death. He was afraid he would lose his only method of charging the Vault Key.

They hadn't missed the change when Lilith showed up.

His threats slowed, becoming more calculated, more emotional, but also more artificial. Zer0 felt sick listening to the man. To the casual listener, what the Vault Hunters were doing was an atrocity. But to a trained assassin, to someone immersed in the world of deception and deceit, the man's silver tongue only evoked nausea. The young girl had endured that for many years and had finally broken free. So maybe some small part of him recognized her as one of them, a companion in the fight against Hyperion. It was a silly notion, but a notion nevertheless. But regardless the reason, it didn't change the fact that she had seen his face. She knew he wasn't human.

And he had abandoned her.

In a fit of childish anger, the assassin had walked away from a despairing young girl. In this moment, he was no better than Jack. Guilt wormed into his conscience. When Roland had been shot, Jack had stood there, calm as can be. With nary a glance at his daughter, who lay at his feet, he captured Lilith in a single swoop. His mind was still focused on the Vault Key and the Warrior. It had never left. Zer0 let out a frustrated breath, rubbing his face tiredly.

He had to go back.

The assassin knew if he had even a shred of decency left in his body, he had to ensure her safety. He chuckled at himself. For what did he know of decency? On his "quest" for the vague goal of "a challenge" he was only running away. He was always running away. And yet he couldn't bring himself to do the same thing again. Zer0 let out a soft sigh. He steeled himself and stood. Picking up the hilt of his blade, the assassin turned and headed back towards the runner. He knew he would have to confront the girl about the matter eventually. Plus, he argued, his helmet was still in the runner.

'Better now than later.'

Almost grudgingly, he made his way back to the car. From a distance, he could see the young girl, knees drawn against her chest, and body resting against the rock wall. The assassin approached, clearing his throat softly to make his presence known. Electric blue eyes flicked towards the source of the sound. Varying emotions danced that troubled face: shock, relief, fear. Zer0 grimaced inwardly, he had frightened the girl terribly. Who knew if she would ever forgive him for that injustice. He took a step forward only to stop as her body froze, like an animal ready to flee. The guilt was unbearable now, gnawing away in the pit of his stomach. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to speak at a distance.

"I apologize. I may have overreacted."

The voice that spoke was no longer tense or aggressive. It sounded more tired and resigned. The girl moved. The assassin let out a soft "oof" as the young Siren flung her arms around his waist, squeezing hard. Her voice was hoarse, he could tell she had been crying for some time.

"Don't leave me like that again…"

Sighing, the man gently pried her off. He gestured for her to sit. In the waning moonlight, the two sat down in the sand, backs against the wall. Still looking hesitant, the girl curled up again, arms around her knees. There was an awkward silence between the two before Zer0 took it upon himself to speak.

"Why did you do it?"

The Siren buried her face in her arms as she mumbled a reply.

"…I was curious."

The assassin had a blank look on his face. As he considered her excuse.

"Curious. That was it?"

The girl's face flushed slightly.

"And a little bored."

The man rubbed his face for the umpteenth time since he had been so rudely awakened. The young girl continued, trying to justify her actions.

"You were always so secretive… I found out about everyone else so quickly… and you…"

She glanced sideways at the man next to her. He held her gaze steadily with those reptilian eyes.

"I couldn't ever find anything on you… it felt like losing."

Spoken aloud, she realized how childish it sounded and hid her face again. But the assassin merely nodded slowly. After a bit, he spoke in that same tired voice.

"So. Seeing as this secret is already out, is there anything else you want to know?"

Angel twitched slightly, her interest piqued. She cautiously glanced at the assassin sitting next to her. He looked as weary as he sounded. Perhaps it was due to lack of sleep, but Angel felt responsible for his state of mind. The girl could tell he was still uncomfortable with having his face seen, and even more uncomfortable that his helmet was still off. She protested.

"You don't have to… I'll understand. I won't pry anymore…"

The Siren's eyes were pained. She didn't want to do anything else to upset the man. Zer0 shook his head stubbornly.

"It'll be easier to get it out of the way."

Slowly, the smaller girl nodded. She took her time, carefully picking out a query. Then she asked, hesitantly.

"You're not human are you?"

A soft chuckle. Zer0 met the girl's eyes.

"I would think that pretty obvious to the Hyperion AI, no?"

The girl flushed, embarrassed at being mocked. Her lips pursed in annoyance.

"I am, what you would call, an Eridian. We are a small, migrant race, residing wherever the Elders deem necessary."

The girl interrupted him.

"Elders?"

Zer0 nodded.

"It is a caste-like system, a rather rigid stratification. The Elders make many of the important decisions regarding the race."

Angel asked the question that had bothered her since Jack first ordered her to observe the unknown man.

"So why did you come to Pandora?"

The assassin frowned.

"I ran away."

The Siren looked at the man quizzically.

"From what?"

The Eridian's face was grim.

"My duties, my orders."

The girl remained confused.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Letting out a sigh, the assassin turned towards the girl.

"The Eridian race has done one thing throughout history and one thing only. In our travels, we find creatures, abominations, irregularities, anything that had even the slightest potential to pose a threat to the greater part of this universe and the many galaxies. The Elders lead the race to these things, and the Soldier class subdues it. In order to prevent these entities from running wild, we bind them in place."

Angel nodded, comprehending.

"The Vaults."

The assassin smirked.

"Very clever."

The girl smiled slightly, embarrassed. Then she spoke again.

"Sounds like quite the job… I suppose we humans need to thank you for that…"

Zer0's mouth twisted into a feral smile.

"You would think us a benevolent race, wouldn't you. You really are a good person. You want to know why we sealed these creatures?"

Angel paused at this sudden shift in demeanor, hesitant to pursue that line of questions. The man spoke nevertheless.

"For war. I was a part of the Soldier class, tasked with neutralizing these entities. By subduing those creatures, we were able to study their biology. Through that research, our technologies evolved. The weapons we used vastly outstripped even Atlas's top designs. Take this suit for example. It's almost completely environmentally resistant. And silent. It would allow even the most bumbling of fools to pull of stealth."

The man took a breath, a disgusted snarl on his face.

"It's pretty obvious why we sealed them, isn't it? So no one else could use that technology against us."

Zer0 scoffed.

"And we considered ourselves a peaceful race. We were always paranoid, always wary of an attack that would wipe the entire race out."

For some reason the assassin couldn't quite grasp, the girl looked a little sad at this. He wondered briefly if it was because of her naivety towards the world. He finished simply.

"And so I left."

The Siren let out a small "oh" as she watching him with her chin on her knees. Those sharp blue eyes bore into him, taking in every word he said.

"You want to know why, don't you?"

The petite Siren nodded shyly.

"There was a small civilization near one of our targets about a decade ago. A truly peaceful race, they had managed to tame the great beast, revered it like a god, and had coexisted with it for many centuries. The Elders deemed the creature could yield useful knowledge and sent us to detain the beast. Of course, to remain hidden from potential enemies, we were also ordered to neutralize the entire the entire civilization as well. I was one of many who protested this course of action, but only one of a few who refused to be swayed."

Zer0 rubbed his neck wearily.

"For my defiance, I was to be executed. So I ran. The outcome remained, though. No doubt that civilization no longer exists."

The girl was silent, a troubled look on her face. Regardless, she stayed silent and let the man talk.

"I fled and joined Atlas for a while. By the time I had joined, it seemed that the researchers had already managed to reverse engineer Eridian technology, pushing the company itself into the forefront of weapons development. I discarded any equipment that the Eridians may have used to trace me and began using the technologies that Atlas provided. It's where I got this."

He twirled the empty katana hilt lightly.

"I helped out with assassinations, one of the few things I excelled at. Some of them were politically driven, some of them personal. I was fighting on Promethea when I heard that the Vault on Pandora had been opened, and the creature within defeated. Atlas fell shortly afterwards, so I was suddenly without a job. I came to Pandora to test my skills. I thought if I was strong enough to defeat one of these creatures, I could go back and overthrow those Elders."

Angel piped up, still wrapping her mind around this new information.

"So, Pandora had two of these… things?"

Zer0 nodded.

"It was, how does one put this, a masterpiece of sorts for the ones who managed to contain both. Two beings capable of planetary destruction existing on the same planet. It happened many centuries ago, but lived on as a story told to rookie soldiers. A unique case for a unique planet. When I heard about it, I suggested layering the seals, keeping the stronger one locked by the weaker one's presence. We revisited this planet a couple decades ago to implement that idea."

The enraptured girl looked worried.

"So, by helping the first Vault Hunters open the first Vault…"

The man shifted, making himself a bit more comfortable on the sands.

"Atlas inadvertently weakened the Warrior's seal."

Angel felt a bit responsible for this so she reasoned with the man.

"Why didn't you tell us if you knew all this then?"

Zer0 chuckled darkly.

"You and I both know what Hyperion would do if they got their hands on a member of an different race."

It was an unhappy truth, but the girl nodded anyway.

"So you intend to kill it?"

The Eridian looked away.

"Only if Jack manages to open it. Even with all our strength combined, it might be a lost cause."

Angel sat in wonder at the fantastical story she was being told. It was a lot to take in. Zer0 looked over at the silent girl.

"Anything else?"

She shook her head lightly, still feeling overwhelmed by the revelation. The assassin spoke again.

"I will ask that you do not tell the others. It may become complicated if they knew, and there is no room for distractions at this point of our war against Hyperion.

Angel nodded, slightly taken aback. After a short while, she spoke.

"Thank you, Zer0, for trusting me with this."

The man's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Regardless of what I did, you'd be able to use that information against me if you so chose to."

The Siren shook her head.

"I would do no such thing!"

He chuckled softly.

"Not even to save this planet? Your friends? You're too hasty in your assertions."

Angel looked saddened, as if she had been scolded. Zer0 added on.

"But that's what makes you, you. You're too kind for your own good, you know?"

The girl looked partially embarrassed, but somewhat disconcerted.

"I'm not a good person either. I've killed many people for Hyperion…"

Zer0 remained silent but the barest of smiles remained on his lips. Stretching, Zer0 stood, walked over to the runner, and grabbed his helmet, donning it and securing it tightly. He turned towards the seated girl, face once again unreadable.

"The sun has risen. / We should move while we still can. / There is much to do."

The young girl nodded absent-mindedly before realizing what he had done. She ran after him as he got back into the runner.

"Oh come on! Don't start that again!"

The rest of the day's travel was fairly uneventful, the few bandit attacks that were fended off easily. Though there was still a bit of tension between the two, Angel did not bring up the morning's conversation again. Zer0 kept to himself, focusing on getting the two of them to Sanctuary. When they stopped for the night, Angel could just barely make out the Highland plains in the distance. It seemed like they would be able to arrive by morning.

That night proceeded like the previous night. Zer0 and Angel switched watches half way into the night to allow the other some rest. The assassin slept as usual in the driver's seat. But unlike usual, his helmet lay to the side, letting the night air blow across his face.

Angel smiled quietly to herself and resumed her watch.

…

A/N: I tried to make the brief Eridian history as plausible as possible. Next stop, Sanctuary! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave a message if you have any comments or critiques.

Nonessential Note: If you know anything about large viruses and think there's something that needs to be learned about them, let me know! (I could always use project proposal ideas…)

NSF is a bitch.

Presentation preparations eat up some of my writing time, hence the slight delays in updates.

See ya next week.


	5. Running

A/N: Sorry, no time to write about Sanctuary this week, new rotation, presentations, and papers to write. I decided this would be quicker to write (**Moral of the Story: it wasn't**). Have this interlude to tide you over. It's just a background filler, but is hopefully worth the read.

Note: This Saturday and next (Nov. 3) I have an experimental design class. If a chapter isn't posted around 12:00AM PST Saturday morning, it means I haven't finished it yet. In that case, expect the chapter on Sunday.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 4 – Running

Just a month before Angel's invitation to all the Vault Hunters on Pandora, the Hyperion corporation held their annual Eden-5 Youth Science Fair at one of their branch companies on Eden-5. While on the outside, it was a fun competitive event to persuade innovative mechanics to push the boundaries of engineering, in reality it was little more than just another golden opportunity for Hyperion to find new designs. After all, the loader designs that had been "acquired" through the Isolus Techie Fair were working like a charm on Pandora. Plus, the event cost next to nothing what with city taxes and public support. Hyperion happily supported such events. The hunt for new toys for Hyperion began just like every other engineering event they held. But this one quickly spiraled out of control as the event was coming to a close.

A young girl stood in the middle of a quickly emptying auditorium. Still warm blood was seeping into her stockings as she stared at the splatter not a meter away from her. Nearby, a hulking robot floated idly as it stared at the fleeing crowd like some twisted guardian of hell. The young girl's lips trembled, her eyes still wide with shock. Not moments ago, it had been a lively celebratory event. Contestants and parents alike shared refreshments after the final results were given. The memory was burned into her mind, forcing her to relive the moment when everything had gone wrong.

…

_She couldn't believe it. Months of hard work, all the nights she had spent trying to improve her design after it had been stolen, were for nothing. A silly little girl simply couldn't win against political influence and money. A large bald, mafioso-like man stood in a pristine white suite next to his snobby little brat of a daughter as they posed for the cameraman, reveling in their victory. As the reporters dispersed, her enemy had sauntered over, smirking haughtily._

"_Looks like it's my win, Gaige. Guess all that hard work didn't do you much good in the end did it? Still, it was better than that moron. What was his name again? Walt… Wheat… I don't even remember. Can you believe he actually made a potato battery? I mean, what is this, the stone age?"_

_The petite mechromancer fumed._

"_You stole those designs and bought off the judges, you little bitch!"_

_Marcie Holloway stepped in close, a downright evil smile on her face._

"_You bet I did. And there's nothing that you, or your floating hunk of junk can do about it."_

_With that, she gave Gaige a shove that sent her to the ground. Gaige winced, staring up at her hated enemy. Suddenly something cast a shadow over the two girls. They both looked at the source of the interruption. Deathtrap floated, less than a meter away from the two. He bent down, emotionless face nearly touching Marcie's. A low rumble emanated from the audio box of the machine. She looked unfazed._

"_You really are a terrible mechanic. Look, your piece of junk is malf…"_

_And it was over before Gaige could even retort. A vicious slash was all it took to vaporize most of Marcie Holloway. Blood sprayed, soaking Gaige's clothes and the clothes of several people standing nearby, including her father. The pristine white suit soaked up the liquid, quickly becoming blotchy and stained. There was immediate silence in the auditorium. Then, something snapped._

"_MARCIE!"_

_Her father screamed out in outrage. He flew forward, fists raised. Gaige simply stood there, brain still trying to process what had just happened. Deathtrap blocked off the attack, growling threateningly. Mr. Holloway quickly backed off. By now, everyone was in a panic. Screams resounded off the auditorium walls, amplifying the noise to a din. But the small engineer heard none of it. She could only focus on the blood that was dripping down her arms and legs, a loud whooshing sound in her ears muting the noise._

…

She snapped out of her memories to find herself standing in a spacious room. Glancing around, she noticed that her robot was nowhere to be found. The girl checked her prosthetic to find that the battery was in recharge mode. A loud cough caused her to look up from her arm. In front of her stood her father, a tall, cleanly shaven gentleman with dark brown hair in a casual business suit. He was poised in a stance she often saw him take when attending formal meetings. Next to him was the principal, a thin looking man with mousy brown hair and some rather ugly-looking glasses.

"I… oh…"

With two long strides, her father had closed the gap between them. He loomed over her, broad shoulders standing out in the suit he had worn to the fair. There was a look of complete fury on his face.

"Gaige Alexa Tolstoi, I hope you understand the severity of your actions! Your machine killed another student!"

Confused at this sudden tirade, the still traumatized girl could only stutter. Her father had never been this mad at her before. Even when she had cut off her arm, he was more scared than angry.

"I… But…"

The principal cleared his throat slightly. Her father's face returned to being neutral face and he took a step back. The stern principal glared down at the small girl over the rims of his thick rimmed glasses.

"Miss Tolstoi, Mr. Holloway is demanding the death penalty. But due to your age, that is not a viable route. You will, however, certainly be expelled and most definitely serve time in a correctional facility, perhaps for life if Mr. Holloway so demands it."

These words hit the young engineer hard. Education had always been one of her strong points. To give it up for good, to never be able to create anything ever again, this future scared her more than her immediate repercussions. Her father's voice came out sharply, jolting her from that moment of terror.

"Very well. I will escort her home. No doubt the police will want to question us as well. Her mother will need to know what has happened."

The bespectacled man nodded briefly.

"I am sorry this had to happen, Mr. Tolstoi."

Her father nodded once and marched her out of the room. They continued in silence all the way to the car where she sat quietly in the front seat, Marcie's blood quickly staining the fabric. Her head was lowered in shame. How could she have let such a thing happen? Sure, she hated the rich little brat, but what had happened… it was simply too much for her to take in. The car door shut and her father let out a long sigh, leaning back in his seat. He turned to her, a different expression on his face.

"You alright?"

Gaige looked quizzically at her father.

"What?"

He stared at her intensely, worry creasing his brow.

"You still look a bit shell-shocked. Here, I brought you lunch, try to eat something, it'll help."

He handed over a brown bag which he placed in her lap. The girl remained frozen in her seat, trying to process what her father had just said. Then he chuckled softly.

"Damn. I knew you'd get her back, but to do that much? That was a pretty badass sight from the audience. I have it recorded, want a copy?"

The young engineer's mind had run into a brick wall and was refusing to budge. She could only babble incoherently.

"W-wha…?"

Her father smiled fondly at the young girl.

"You take after your mother, you know? She was always making cool stuff at your age."

Confused, Gaige felt tears of frustration coming to her eyes.

"But… but s-she… Deathtrap killed her… I k-killed her…"

The man frowned slightly.

"Yeah, can you believe you only got third?"

The young girl screeched in fear and anger.

"DAD! I KILLED SOMEONE!"

She breathed in ragged gasps, trying to somehow get her heart under control. Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision. Her father wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, blood and all.

"Oh honey, I know it's tough. That kind of thing always is. But you and I both know that girl was going to keep doing the same thing to plenty of other people as she grew older. Her father would have seen to that. Those are the worst kind of scum. They kill whole societies and impede scientific progress. So please, don't beat yourself up over this. After all, I wanted to have a word with her father as well."

Gaige sniffled lightly, wiping her eyes with a hand. She took a couple calming breaths and took out a sandwich from the sack. Hands still trembling, she forced herself to take a bite before muttering darkly.

"I can't believe Deathtrap only got third…"

Her father smiled.

"I know, right?"

He started the car and in seconds they were speeding off back home. In a few short minutes, they reached the house, an average looking building with a white picket fence just outside of the city limits. Gaige stared sadly at the shed, which was partially visible from the front yard.

"Dad… I'm still going to jail, aren't I?"

Her father scoffed at the notion.

"Not if I can help it. Nobody's taking away my little girl. Go get cleaned up, we have a lot of stuff to do."

This made her smile. And though she still felt her prospects looked bleak, it made her just a bit happier. She walked into her room which was little more than another workspace. Rummaging through the scrap metal and scrapped blueprints, she found a clean set of clothes. She took a scalding hot shower, the feeling of Marcie's blood on her skin disgusting her to no extent. After a few minutes, she returned downstairs to find her father waiting for her. The tall man turned to face his daughter.

"How do you feel about Vault hunting on Pandora?"

Gaige looked questioningly at her father.

"Um… it sounds fun, but isn't it really dangerous? People die looking for the Vault all the time from what I hear."

Her father smiled.

"That's what New-U stations are for, honey. But if you don't, I'm sure we could all move somewhere else. I hear Aquator is a nice place to stay."

The young girl shook her head.

"I don't wanna drag you guys into this mess…"

The father laughed at this.

"Sweetie, we're a family. We're all in this whether you like it or not. It wouldn't bother me and I'm sure it wouldn't bother your mother either. So, what would you like to do?"

Gaige considered her options for just a moment.

"I'll go to Pandora… maybe I can get some more use out of Deathtrap there."

Her father beamed.

" 'atta girl. Think of it as studying abroad."

She nodded, still a bit teary-eyed. Her father turned around and went into the master bedroom. After a short while, he returned holding a battle worn Vladof assault rifle and an equally weathered looking Jakobs shotgun in his hands.

"Take these with you, your mother and I used these back in our revolutionary days."

Mouthing the word "revolutionary" in silent confusion, the petite girl accepted the weapons and placed them into her pack, where they were deconstructed and inputted into the backpack's digistruct program. She took one last look at the place she had spent a decade and a half, the robotics trophies that lined the fireplace, the photos of her family. She looked up at her father.

"Where's mom?"

Gaige's father let out a chuckle.

"You'd be surprised what you can do with a bit of gasoline and my old golf cart in a hurry. I called your mother about it and she threw it together. Think of it as a going away present. She's off delivering it to your good friend Marcie's mansion as we speak."

The young girl wrapped her arms around the greatest man she'd ever known. Tears welled up in her eyes as she squeezed his torso.

"Thanks, Daddy."

The hug was interrupted by a loud honk from outside the quaint little house.

"Well, let's go, time's a wastin'."

They exited the house to find an expensive looking car parked outside. Her mother was in the driver's seat. From the house, Gaige could see her platinum blonde hair glistening in the midday sun. In stark contrast to the jet black vehicle she was driving, her mother was wearing casual clothes and an apron. She looked every bit like a common housewife. She put two fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly.

"Come on! We still gotta get to the spaceport! The Aquator flight leaves in an hour, but Pandora leaves real soon!"

Gaige and her father scrambled into the car and it peeled off down the suburban roads. Her father whistled softly as he looked around the inside of the car.

"Honey, have you been spending our money again?"

His wife gave a mock offended gasp.

"I would do no such thing! Mr. Holloway was so thankful of our gift that he gave this to me!"

By now, Gaige was thoroughly confused. Her mother spoke up again, drawing her attention.

"So, Gaige, sweetie, which spaceport are we going to? Does mommy get a vacation on Aquator?"

Giage giggled slightly.

"Sorry, mom. I think I'm gonna go to Pandora for now."

A slight frown appeared on her mother's lips as she pouted.

"Oh well, worth a try I guess. Hang on."

Her mother made a hard turn as they deviated from their original path and floored it. The luxury vehicle tore through traffic at nearly double the speed limit. Out the window, the young girl noticed they were driving towards the fields outside the city. Gaige's father turned to face her. He handed her a wad of bills.

"This should keep you fed for a while. If you need more, just ask the locals, they always have stuff to do."

Gaige nodded and pocketed the money. After a few short minutes, they arrived at what appeared to be a airplane graveyard. Her mother made a small noise of disgust.

"As shoddy as ever, you'd think with all the people going to Pandora for those Vaults they could afford to spruce this place up a bit!"

The three of them walked over to a makeshift booth where a scraggly young man in a trucker cap and denim overalls sat idly. He looked up as they approached.

"Wha' chu want?"

Her father cleared his throat, handing over some money.

"One ticket to Pandora, please."

He rummaged around behind the box and produced a crumpled piece of paper. Gaige took it gingerly. The worker eyed her slightly.

"Jus' her? Well, I won' ask no questions if you don' neither."

They made their way to the shuttle heading towards Pandora. It looked as if it belonged in this junkyard. The wings looked slightly damaged, the paint was falling off, and the engines occasionally sputtered. As she watched, a man gave the sputtering engine a solid whack with a wrench, causing it to cough up a large amount of black smoke. Gaige was starting to have some serious doubts of the safety and mobility of the flying wreck. Another man near the ship motioned for them to stop. He lowered his shotgun from his shoulder and spoke.

"Sorry, folks. Passengers only. I'mma have ta see yer tickets."

Gaige turned back to her parents, she could feel herself wanting to cry. She flung an arm around both of them and drew them in closely.

"I'm gonna miss you two…"

Her voice came out slightly muffled as she hugged her parents. Her father smiled softly.

"We will too, sweetie. Go kick some ass on Pandora."

Sniffling slightly, the young mechromancer nodded and stepped into the confines of the shuttle. The pilot near the ship's door gave the area a quick scan and then headed inside as well, closing the door behind them. A voice came over the makeshift speaker system telling anyone nearby to move back. The couple walked back several meters to a safe distance as the shuttle gunned its engines, preparing for takeoff. After a few preliminary movements, they announced that the ship was ready to leave. Standing in the field next to the dilapidated spaceport, the husband and wife watched as the Pandoran Adventures shuttle lurched into the air and slowly made its way into the sky. The man smiled, hugging his wife close to him. Just beyond the makeshift spaceport, they could see black clouds of smoke billowing out of the remnants of the Holloway Manor. They could imagine several large firetrucks surrounding the area as numerous firemen tried to put out the chemical fire while it quickly ate through the acres of pristine landscaping. The husband spoke.

"You're still as efficient as ever. How did you manage that anyway? I thought you had work."

The younger woman smiled fondly.

"I took a day off to bake Gaige a cake. Though I was caught off guard at the phone call… I thought she would win first, you know?"

The man laughed lightly.

"Well, that point is debatable."

The two stared at the clouds of smoke in the distance. His wife let out a small sigh.

"Almost reminds you of the Hestias Revolution huh?"

The man gave a small chuckle and gave his wife a light squeeze.

"It sure does, honey. It sure does."

A man cleared his throat behind the loving couple.

"Michael and Antonia Tolstoi?"

The father half turned his head to glance at the man standing at attention several paces away. His hands were clasped behind him, clutching a fabric cap, and he wore a military uniform decorated with numerous medals and stripes. There was a bold "V" on his armband, adorned by a single star.

"What is it?"

The smartly dressed man gave a sharp salute.

"Sir! Our Generalissimus would like to inform you two that the campaign to purge Hyperion from this planet will soon begin. He would be honored if you two would stand by his side once again."

Michael Tolstoi frowned ever so slightly, turning back and staring at the disappearing form of the interplanetary barge.

"In due time, soldier. Give us a moment, our little anarchist just left on a big adventure."

…

A little over a month later and the battle hardened mechromancer found herself still wandering around Pandora. In her travels she managed to pick up usable scrap metal from various bandit camps and made several useful upgrades to Deathtrap. She had tried to make the event of dying as unlikely as possible. Maybe seriously injured, but never mortally wounded. As much as her father had promised she would be okay regardless of what happened, she didn't like the idea of being reconstructed by a Hyperion machine. Something about the entire process seemed vaguely wrong, like she was some kind of disposable piece on a game board.

Pandora was a frightening land at first. Being dumped on a platform in the middle of nowhere was terrifying enough, but her first kill was something she could never forget. She was traveling with a small group of people headed for the nearest civilization when a group of bandits and psychos had ambushed the group. Three people were shot before Gaige summoned Deathtrap and drew her Jakobs shotgun. A midget rushed out from the fray and lunged at her. She raised the gun in response and pulled the trigger in reflex. Blood and grey matter splattered across her face and clothes, causing her to retch. She promptly passed out in shock.

Luckily for her, Deathtrap took care of the rest and the survivors were nice enough to wait until she came to. In retrospect, she guessed it was because she was the only person capable of defending the small group. Things went alright for her after that, she found herself in a place called New Haven. The locals were friendly enough and most of them were sensible enough to warn her of all the bandit clans scattered around Pandora. The town was run by a stern looking lady, but Gaige soon found out she could be rather nice once you got to know her. It was a peaceful two weeks as she got to explore the area. She was able to focus on tweaking Deathtrap, running small errands whenever she needed money. But then Hyperion invaded, under the pretense of killing bandit scum. Gaige knew she was an outlaw, but some of the citizens caught in the crossfire were definitely not. She caught a glimpse of rising flames and loaders marching through the streets before she fled the doomed city.

Since then, she wandered around, camping outside and hunting for food. Listening to the ECHO network, she learned of some interesting events that had been going on in Hyperion for the last couple weeks. It seemed that the galactic conglomerate had been experiencing its own share of troubles. Those people Hyperion had labeled Vault Hunters seemed to be escalating the war Hyperion had provoked, leading to all sorts of falsified news. Roland had been killed, Roland had been captured, Roland had been killed again, Roland had escaped, Sanctuary had vanished, it had gotten to the point that she had completely lost track of exactly what was going on. She decided she would find Sanctuary and see for herself exactly what was going on.

Gaige mulled this over from her resting spot just outside what looked to be some kind of train station. It had been hard tracking down the city that didn't exist on most conventional Fast-Travel Systems anymore. That and she had never been there before so she couldn't travel there even if it was in the System. But as luck would have it, she caught a glimpse of the massive flying city a week ago and had been heading towards it ever since. It looked like if she followed the train tracks, she could get at least pretty close to it before deciding what to do next. She stood and entered the train depot, slightly bitter that she had to walk the entire way. The girl shivered slightly from the cold and wondered why she didn't think of buying or stealing heavier clothes. A noise sounded to her left and she turned her head to see a psycho wandering around.

'He hasn't seen me yet, better be quiet…'

But even as she thought this, the masked face scanned the area again and his obscured eyes locked onto hers. He let out a laugh, jumping up and down in glee before grabbing something and running towards her. That something was a grenade.

"Oh, shit!"

With no time to lose, she sent Deathtrap forwards. Deathtrap swiped, but the psycho was too fast and simply kept running forward. She ran for the tracks, heading up the stairs towards them. Gaige turned to see the psycho was still following her, holding the grenade like some magnificent prize. In desperation, she raised her Vladof rifle and fired wildly just as the psycho reached the top of the stairs. Many of the bullets flew wide, but several found their target, causing the psycho to stumble. Stumble and drop the grenade. It bounced slightly and rolled to her left. She lept to the right, arms shielding her face, but she was still too close. The grenade went off half a second later.

Her shield absorbed most of the blast, but the force still sent her flying into the side of a nearby building. She felt something give behind her and froze as a loud siren began to wail out. Suddenly bandits started running out of all the nearby buildings, wondering what the noise was. Panicking, she quickly summoned Deathtrap again and began firing at the oncoming masses. Deathtrap zoomed forward, cutting up bandits left and right. But for ever one he killed, more appeared from the old buildings. She backpedaled, trying to keep the enemies at bay.

Then, something struck her head from behind and her world reeled. There was insane laughter echoing in her ears. She knew that, if she passed out, dying would probably be the best thing that could happen to her. But if she didn't, who knew what these bandits were capable of. Gaige struggled to get back on her feet, but a second blow sent her crashing into the snowy platform. The young mechromancer heard faint explosions and gunfire nearby before she blacked out and fell into blissful unconsciousness.

…

A/N: So I thought this chapter was going to be somehow easier to write… or at least shorter… it was neither.

Whatever.

Can you guess where Gaige is at the end?

Bonus points if you can figure out where all the names came from! Shouldn't be too hard, I only stole from a couple notable names.

Hint: The only name not stolen was Gaige's first name (obviously), but variations and truncations have been made.

Hint 2: There are 3 names total.

I'll give you the names in the next chapter! You'll find out where Gaige is whenever she next appears. But first, off to Sanctuary (for real this time.)

**Final Note**: Just out of curiosity, how many people want Roland to show up again? Honestly, I never played his character in the first game and he came off as a bit blunt in this game. One central idea I keep juggling is if I should keep him dead or not. Just post what you think in the reviews and I'll think about how I want all this to play out.

See you next week!


	6. Arriving

A/N: Enough making up personalities for people that have none! *points at Zer0* Back to the star of the show, Angel!

Not too much news, ridiculously busy with tests and papers as usual. With the work from my Saturday and presentations to prepare, I was only about a third of the way through on Thursday night.

**Note (1AM)**: How I finished it, I don't know. I have class in about 7 hours. I was originally going to post it Sunday, but I decided to finish it up since I could. Proofreading was done in about 30 minutes, let me know if you find anything seriously wrong.

In the month since I decided to write this fic, I've gotten over 6k hits with over 2.5k visitors! That's pretty cool! Thanks for all the support!

**Prize**: well not really, but when I go home for Thanksgiving and get access to a working scanner, I'm gonna go ahead and post a book cover/image for this story! Just a little thing I drew for practice a couple weeks back for practice.

Names: Curtisimo got Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy right (most notable name there). The other two names were Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (somewhat notable) and his wife Antonia (pretty obscure except for being Mikhail's wife). Fun stuff.

Curtisimo: Props to you for noticing the reference. I tried to sneak it in.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 5 – Arriving

Around midday, Zer0 and Angel finally reached the outskirts of The Highlands, the grassy hills south of The Dust. To the girl's slight disappointment, the assassin was fully masked once again, making it impossible to read his emotions. He had also reverted to speaking in predominantly haiku, which she had a sneaking suspicion was on purpose in an effort to annoy her. Their runner was parked about a mile away from the shadow of the floating city, slightly northeast of The Highlands. The two stood just below the Dahl mining ship, staring up at the slab of machinery.

"Wow… it looked a lot smaller from space…"

Angel trailed off, still in awe that Lilith had managed to jumpstart the derelict engines _and_ teleport the entire thing such a distance with only five pieces of raw eridium. Just how much power was in those things? Moreover, how much power did Lilith have for just five pieces to amplify her power to that extent? They stood for a while, staring up at the bottom of the flying city. From this point of view, Angel could only see the massive drill Dahl had used in their mining operations. As the city hovered, chunks of dirt and debris still crumbled away from the disused drill, forcing the two to back away. As promised, Angel gave Ellie a call to let the mechanic know she had arrived at Sanctuary.

"Kickass! Now let's see if that idiot can do somethin' about getting you in."

After a short pause, Scooter's voice drifted up through the ECHO communications device.

"Whatchu need, Ellie? I'm busy."

Ellie sounded annoyed.

"You can read yer nudie mags later! I got a friend needin' access into the city."

Scooter's lazy voice drawled on.

"No can do, Ellie! What with all the sad stuff been happenin' lately, I haven't seen any sign of the Vault Hunters. No way I'm lettin' in some strangers, even if they's yer friends! Plus, I dunno how to get 'em in anyway. As awesome as this flyin' city is, we're probably screwed if we don't find a way to get supplies up here."

Ellie growled angrily at the stubborn mechanic.

"Then you better start thinkin' or I'mma tell ma you've been writin' that awful poetry again!"

There was an audible gulp.

"Shit, Ellie. Whatchu want me to do? Lower a basket? Hand-crank a lift? If you haven't heard, we're waaaay too high for that!"

With that, he cut the ECHO connection. Ellie gave an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry, girly. I'll blow up some of his cars later."

Angel chuckled at this.

"Don't worry, Ellie. Zer0's here with me, I'm sure he'll think of something."

The woman made a pitying sound.

"Aw, honey. I'm sorry. He didn' talk to you too much, did he? The way he speaks really gits on my nerves."

Angel smiled as Zer0 crossed his armed and stared at her.

"No, no he was pretty quiet. He helped me out back in The Dust. I've been travelling with him since."

Ellie laughed over the ECHO device.

"Ouch! Well good luck getting' into the city. You might as well wait for a basket from that idiot!"

With that she hung up as well. Zer0 gave a sigh trying to figure out some way of getting the Siren up to the city in the clouds. He glanced up again. Angel sat on the hood of the runner, dangling her legs in boredom. It was a couple minutes before he spoke.

"The problem remains, / How do we get you up there? / Can you not fly up?"

Angel frowned. It took her a moment to realize what the assassin was referring to. She hopped down from the runner.

"I've never tried… Actually, I don't even know if these count as wings."

Activating her power, she allowed it to overflow, causing the excess energy to emerge as two wispy-looking wings. She turned her head to look at them, flexing them experimentally.

"This is weird… I never tried to move them before… but then again, they really only showed up when Jack was using me as a battery."

Zer0 gave a light "hmph" of disgust. Eridium, as the Vault Hunters had found out, was an incredibly energy dense substance. The fact that the Slag runoff from Eridium processing had such potent effects on a person was something to say about the true energy within Eridium ores. Liquid Eridium, was several hundred times more potent than even the raw ore due to its concentrated nature. Angel gave her wings a tentative flap and found that the downdraft provided some lift. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked at Zer0.

"Hey! This might work!"

Excited, she flapped a little harder and propelled herself several meters into the air. She landed with a light tap on the grassy hillside. Emboldened, she crouched.

"Okay. Let's give this a try!"

Zer0 looked like he was about to say something. But, caught up in the excitement as she was, she paid no attention. With a mighty leap, she propelled herself into the air. She pushed down hard with her Eridium wings, sending herself some thirty meters into the air. Zer0's blank face turned up as he watched her make her way towards Sanctuary. At about a quarter of the way there, her wings vanished. With a scream, she plummeted back down towards the ground. Despite the reduced gravity on Pandora, such a height was still terrifying. Unintentionally, Zer0 was still right below and acted as a cushion. She crashed hard into the assassin, winding them both. Angel lay curled in a fetal position as she tried to catch her breath and calm her nerves. The Eridian warrior lay on his back, a faint "FML" blinking in front of his helmet. The Siren groaned as she got up.

"Ow… that… was a bad idea…"

There was a wheezy cough from beneath her.

"Oh! Zer0! Are you alright?"

She scrambled to get off. Stiffly, the man sat up and turned his face towards her.

"How foolish of you, / You should have tested it more. / Don't try that again."

Angel felt her face redden in shame as she mumbled out an apology. Then she got an idea.

"What if I tried with some Eridium? I could probably make it if I had a bit of raw Eridium."

Zer0 sat in the grass, contemplating, but making no effort to stand. After a while, he spoke.

"Perhaps it would work, / But where could we find the stuff? / I don't have any."

Angel thought about it for a while. She gestured to Zer0.

"You've got some processed Eridium right? Let me give it a try."

The man stood up gingerly, stretching out his sore muscles, before reaching into his pack and drawing out a glowing purple ingot. Angel held the processed Eridium carefully and concentrated. Closing her eyes, she breathed several times before letting energy flow through her body once again. Wings appeared again, sharper and more defined. They began to take on a translucent sheen when the particles suddenly shattered. In response, the bar of Eridium flickered briefly before crumbling in her hands. Angel opened her eyes wearily. She looked down at the dimming shards in her hands.

"Uh… oops, sorry. Looks like the refinement process made them really brittle."

Zer0 didn't bother to admonish the girl. He leaned back against the runner staring at the flying city, leaving Angel to her thoughts again. After a few moments, she spoke up again.

"You know that mining town? Overlook? Maybe they have some Eridium they 'forgot' to give to Hyperion. What do you think?"

Zer0 looked over.

"It is possible. / A curious suggestion, / It is worth a try."

He made to get in the vehicle. Angel sighed lightly.

"Will you ever stop that?"

The engine of the runner roared to life. Zer0 motioned for her to get in before answering.

"Perhaps."

Annoyed, Angel complied. The runner drove past the various wildlife of The Highlands. More than once did both travelers have to duck to avoid flying spines from the various threshers scattered around the area. After a few short minutes, they arrived outside the small town, parking several meters away from entrance. They made their way up the sloping incline to the town center. Taking a right, Zer0 headed towards a small house at the edge of the city. He rapped sharply on the door. A small video feed fizzled into life.

"Yes?"

A blonde haired woman with a flowered hair band stared through the screen. It took her a moment to recognize Zer0.

"Oh, hello there. Did you need something? I'm afraid I haven't any jobs at the moment. It's been pretty quiet since you got us our medicine and helped with that shield."

Zer0 paused. The woman frowned, seeming a bit perturbed.

"Oh dear, you're the one that doesn't talk much…"

Angel rolled her eyes, she could tell he was trying to explain their situation in bloody haiku. She pushed him out of the way.

"Sorry, ma'am. I'm looking for a bit of raw Eridium. I'm a Siren and I need a bit of a boost to get up to Sanctuary."

The lady stared at the girl for a while.

"You're new, did you just join their little group?"

Angel shrugged helplessly.

"Something like that, I guess."

The woman gave a short huff.

"You know we're not supposed to keep any of that stuff right? Jack would come and kill us in our sleep if we did."

The slot by the door opened slightly and a glowing rock was deposited in it. She winked at the two.

"That's why it's so much easier to do just that."

Angel grinned.

"Thank you so much! If there's anything I can do for you in the future, let me know."

The woman paused, considering this.

"Well, there is something you could do for us. There's been a problematic individual wandering around lately. Could you two kindly deal with him? A single bullet if you want to save yourself the money."

Angel paused, confused.

"A bandit?"

The woman shook her head.

"No, worse. You'll recognize it."

Angel nodded.

"We'll keep an eye out. First, we've got to get to Sanctuary."

The woman in the monitor smiled.

"Take your time, dear."

With that, the screen turned black. Angel grabbed the piece of raw Eridium and turned back to the assassin.

"Let's go then. I think I can get up to Sanctuary with this. Wow… no wonder Lilith could teleport a city. Just this one little bit feels absolutely electrifying!"

The two made their way back down to Overlook's entrance. Zer0 finally spoke.

"Haste would be preferred, / Jack grows closer to the vault. / We need to regroup."

Angel agreed with him. The two were preparing to set off when a voice rang out from the bottom of the hill.

"Hey there, skag-suckers! Yew's headin' to Sanctuary?"

The two travelers spun, guns held at the ready. At the foot of the hill, a pudgy, bearded man made his way towards the parked runner. Zer0 lowered his gun, but remained alert and tense.

"Hold for a moment, / His voice sounds so familiar. / But where have we met?"

Angel eyed him questioningly but did the same. The newcomer finally reached the pair, slightly out of breath. He looked the two over with a squinted eye.

"Yew skag-suckers been hangin' around that bitch Karima? They won't let me in. So I needs to git to Sanctuary."

He looked up, face shining with perspiration from climbing the small hill. At close range, it seemed more like grease than sweat. Angel made a small noise of disgust as she unconsciously took a step back. Unperturbed, the man straightened and took a couple steps forward, still eyeing the two adventurers who had not quite lowered their weapons.

"Wha's a woman doin' wit a gun? Where's yer frying pan, girly?"

Zer0 gave a small groan. Under the hiss of his helmet, Angel heard him muttering to himself.

"The saying is true. / While the good often perish, / Assholes never die."

The man stuck out a meaty fist.

"Name's Dave."

Angel shook it gingerly, taking the chance to wipe her hand against her pant leg when he turned towards Zer0.

"Hey, I remember yew! Yew and yer skag-suckin' buddies got me kicked out of Overlook!"

Zer0's mask projected the letters "LOL" briefly before returning to a blank stare. Apparently not noticing, the man continued on.

"Well no matter, wit' Karima runnin' the show, they're screwed anyway. I mean, what does a woman know about runnin' a town? Ain't the same as a kitchen!"

He laughed at his own joke.

"I figure that measly shield ain't gon' last ten seconds once Jack finds out! That's what happens when yew get a woman to do a man's job!"

Angel had a look of disgust mixed with annoyance on her face. Zer0 turned towards her, seemingly unfazed by the repulsive man in front of him. He spoke calmly.

"The pig squeals loudly, / Disgusting sounds in my ears. / Shall I kill this man?"

In a bit of quick thinking, Angel got a devious smile on her face.

"No, no need for violence. Dave, was it? Scooter's sending down a lift from Sanctuary. I'm sure he'd be willing to take you up if you asked nicely. You might have to wait a bit, Scooter's trying his best to get that lift down to ground level."

Dave gave a huff of satisfaction.

"See there's a woman who knows her place! Unlike that blue-haired bitch that followed yew lot around."

Angel's fake smile faltered ever so slightly.

"Well shall we head off to Sanctuary then? I can grab another car and we can drive you over there."

Dave shook his pudgy head.

"Nu-uh. I ain't havin' no woman or freak drive me around! If yew even consider it drivin'. Let the men drive and yew keep yer purty little head thinkin' about cookin'."

Something snapped inside the Siren's mind. Angel dropped her pack to the ground, brandishing her rifle.

"Listen, you ungrateful son of a b…"

A weak cooing noise sounded nearby and the three travelers paused, looking around. Angel gasped softly. A young looking stalker was hobbling about near the foot of the hill. It seemed to be injured as it limped feebly, letting off low growls every once in a while. It's skin looked dull. From what she had seen from the Vault Hunters, that indicated that its shield sac was depleted. She whispered at Zer0.

"We should take a different route."

Zer0 nodded. Dave, however, disagreed with this plan. He put on a bold air and spoke up rather loudly.

"Wha's tha matter, girly? Scared of a lone stalka? No worries, yew's got a man here to protect ya! Heh heh."

He reached out and snatched the old Jakobs rifle out of Angel's hands. Disgruntled, she hissed quietly, afraid to alert the stalker.

"Hey! Give that back!"

The man completely ignored her. He raised the rifle to his line of sight, aiming down the barrel at the limping stalker. At this movement, the young stalker noticed the overweight redneck. It gave the group a rather pitiful look, shrinking down in fright. Angel stepped in front of him, barrel of the rifle just millimeters away from her body. Zer0's hand crept towards his blade warily. She spoke firmly.

"Stop it. Let's go already!"

Dave didn't take too kindly too this.

"Girl, you's better git out of mah way! Go play wit' yer dolls and let the men do the fightin'!"

He gave a sidelong glance at Zer0, who was tensed up to attack. Though which target he would strike, he was still uncertain. Stalkers were known to be extremely violent when injured. Dave added onto his previous statement.

"Even if one of us is a skag-suckin' freak!"

Zer0 bristled slightly at this. Dave turned his attention back forward, where Angel still refused to budge. He narrowed his eyes.

"Why yew care 'bout a monsta'? This one of yer woman problems?"

Angel remained stubbornly silent. The man seemed to be getting more and more annoyed.

"Girl, you's best stand aside. Gots ta put that thing down. Look away if it's too scary for yer purty little eyes."

The girl refused to move, anger blazing in her eyes. Zer0 was moving closer now.

"You deaf _and_ dumb? Git out of the way!"

With a mighty shove, Dave moved forward, elbowing the Siren. She tumbled down the hill, coming to a stop less than a meter away from the injured stalker. Zer0 was about to retaliate before he stopped. Angel stood, wings unfurled and raw power rolling off her body. The injured stalker looked terrified at this even though the power not being directed towards it. She took a step forward, grown crackling slightly with electricity. Surprised, Dave's finger slipped and a shot rang out in the quiet hillside. The bullet cut through the air only to sizzle away to nothing as Angel's shield nullified its force.

"What is wrong with you! Stop wasting our time and move your ass! We don't need to do this!"

By this time, several adult stalkers had crept up behind Angel, curious as to what the noise was. Zer0 hesitantly took a step back, hand now reaching for his rifle as well. Panicking, the redneck fired off the rest of the clip letting out a strangled cry. The Siren gave a yelp as her shields fell and a bullet pierced her shoulder and she fell backwards, nearly right onto the young stalker. It let out a surprised yip as the human collapsed next to it. Angel pushed herself up, wincing as she gripped her shoulder. She was suddenly very aware of several low growls nearby. The girl turned to find herself face to face with a very angry stalker. She froze.

For a moment, time stood still.

At such a close distance, Angel could see every detail of the creature. The stalker's back glistened in the midday sun, crackling slightly with stored energy. Its tail swished back and forth, deadly spike glinting dangerously. It cocked its head slightly, peering at her with its cold blue eyes. Their placement directly under rows of serrated teeth only made the beast look all the more terrifying. It gave the air a sniff, moving closer as it did. At this time, the young stalker gave a happy cry as it limped towards the older creature. A curse caused Angel to turn away from this immediate threat. Several paces away, Dave was struggling with the old Jakobs rifle, trying to eject the empty ammo clip. A warm breath on the back of her neck forced her to turn back towards the stalker who was still peering curiously at the girl.

Then a gunshot rang out.

Dave had somehow gotten the ammo clip out and reloaded with ammo from Angel's fallen pack. The rifle bullet hissed as the adult stalker's shield intercepted it. The stalker was growling again, this time in a deeper, throatier tone. Angel froze, her face still easily within biting distance of those powerful jaws. The creature backed up, crouching low to the ground, preparing to spring. With a roar, it leapt forward. The young girl shut her eyes reflexively, expecting pain. Instead, she was forcibly thrown to the ground as several sinewy bodies leapt past her. She opened her eyes to find the stalker gone.

A scream from behind clued her in to the beast's location. Pushing herself up, she turned towards where Zer0 and Dave had been moments before. The overweight redneck had been knocked to the ground by one of the three stalkers currently surrounding him. They moved in a circular pattern, Angel vaguely recognized it as a common hunting movement. Without warning, the one directly in front of the staggering man leapt.

She gasped in horror as she watched the greasy slime of a man flail pitifully under several hundred kilos of pure rage. Blood splattered the grass from various cuts sustained under tooth and claw. The man swung the Jackobs rifle up, smacking the stalker in the face before firing wildly in its direction. The stalker simply leapt back and then redoubled its attacks. Dave let out a terrified scream as bloodied claws descended upon him. The rifle swung randomly as Dave continued to pull the trigger. Bullets flew everywhere, causing every being in the vicinity to duck for cover. Zer0 carefully made his way around the man under attack. As he passed, Dave noticed him in his struggle.

"Oh god! Git this thing offa me! Aauuugh! GIT BACK HERE SKAG-LICK! Aiiieeeeeee…."

His screams were drowned out by a resounding roar as the stalker bit down on its victim. Its friends quickly joined the fray. Zer0 reached Angel and the young stalker, crouching low to avoid attention. One adult stalker standing guard growled threateningly at the assassin as he approached. He stopped and gestured at the girl.

"We should escape now. / The hungry beasts are busy / feasting on the pig."

She stood shakily.

"A simple 'let's go' would've sufficed!"

Both the smaller stalker and its guardian stared at the girl as she made her way towards Zer0. Taking a larger circle, they made their way back up to their runner. The two adventurers drove off without another word, having very few qualms about leaving the sexist prick to his fate. The small stalker stared after the young Siren for just a bit longer before returning its gaze to the carnage in front of its eyes. Clutching her shoulder, the injured Siren muttered darkly.

"Asshole."

…

Angel landed with a gasp in the wrecked entrance to Sanctuary. She looked down at the grain of Eridium remaining in her palm and smiled at the fact that it had indeed been enough to get her up to Sanctuary. Zer0 had told her to head towards the Crimson Raider's Headquarters as soon as she got up and that he would join her shortly. After making sure she had made it, he had returned to Overlook to use the Fast Travel himself. She walked through the city, trying her best to avoid any stares. Unfortunately, it was all for naught as she turned a corner and ran into a certain funny little robot.

"Wow! You're not dead?"

Angel froze. The yellow robot stared up at her. He continued on without a care.

"Great! Wanna come hang out with me? It'll be awesome! We've got all kinds of stuff in common! Like Hyperion! And… Hyperion! Oh, and hacking! You can even watch me cry! You ever been with a Claptrap before? You know what they say! Once you go Clap, you never go back!"

In an attempt to usher her in a different direction, a spindly robotic arm found its way to her bottom. She jumped, surprised. It may have been due to the height difference, but she suspected otherwise. The next moment, Angel reached down and grabbed the perverted robot by his mechanical eye. She spoke to him in a dark undertone.

"If I recall, you're Hyperion tech. Do you know what I can do to you if you don't cut that out?"

The robot shrank, eye narrowing into a pinprick of light. His chassis trembled in fright. He replied in a shaky voice.

"N…no…?"

Angel's face remained blank.

"Would you like to find out?"

The robot's arms had retracted into his body.

"No…"

Angel smiled thinly.

"No what?"

Claptrap was now a quaking box.

"No, ma'am."

Angel stood.

"Good, now run along then."

She turned and strode away. A few minutes passed before Claptrap stood up on his wheel again.

"Ah… I think I'm in love…"

Claptrap muttered to himself before wandering off to bother someone else. The Siren made a beeline for the headquarters. As she approached the door, a man in an old Crimson Lance armor stopped her.

"You! I know you! You killed Lieutenant Davis! What are you doing here you bitch!"

Angel faltered. The plan she had of meeting with the Vault Hunters to get back at Jack quickly fell apart in her head.

"I… I…"

She could only stammer. The Private looked furious as he stepped forward, hand reaching towards his gun. Angel was suddenly painfully aware that her only weapon was lying next to a corpse outside of Overlook. The man hissed venomously.

"Get out of here, you traitorous bitch!"

Angel backed away a couple steps before a voice called out behind her.

"Jessup! What's going on out here?"

Angel froze at the familiar voice. Private Jessup suddenly looked nervous.

"I… uh… I was keeping watch ma'am. Mister Mordecai told me not to let anyone in!"

Angel whirled quickly to face the blue-haired Siren. The older woman froze, eyes widening. The young Siren found herself in a tight bear hug as the older Siren squeezed her hard.

"You're alive!"

…

A/N: Why did I bring Dave back? I figured he'd be fun to write. Maybe part of me just wanted to kill him again in spite and dark humor. The banter and attack were two things I had in mind since I decided not to keep this as a one-shot. Anyone remember this was briefly going to be a one-shot?

*Someday we'll look back on that and laugh. And laugh. And laugh.*

In this chapter, Dave became the full embodiment of every sexist joke I could find in the course of about five minutes. Did I mention he's a downright douche? I don't know if I got that point across too clearly.

I thought I'd share some developmental thoughts with you:

Someone once made the comment that Angel is the nicest being on Pandora who isn't entirely out for themselves in some way shape or form. I'm trying to emulate that while still keeping her somewhat human in comparison to most of the amoral crazies on Pandora. I'm considering even taking that kindness to a fault. Hopefully that doesn't upset too many people and, at this point, as long as I do it right, I think I'll be okay on that front.

Also, if Lilith can teleport an entire city, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Angel could fly short distances with a bit of raw eridium.

And now for some fun stuff:

DIY: Sexist Jokes (By Dave.)

You know what's better than [insert phrase here]? Not being a woman!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. In the mean time, I'll be gouging my eyes out from studying.

See you next week!


	7. Regrouping

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I've been buried under a mountain of work. I've been kind of burned out all the stuff I had to do this week, hopefully it didn't affect my writing too much.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 6 – Regrouping

A certain blue haired Siren woke a couple hours ago to an empty house. Checking her ECHO communicator, she found that she had been out for well over a day and a half. Maya rubbed her eyes tiredly, head throbbing slightly from the excess sleep. A half empty bowl of water with a washcloth lay on a nearby nightstand, an indication that someone had been taking care of her while she was out. Her stomach squirmed slightly as she noticed a tinge of red dying the edges of the cloth. She closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. She had left because her body refused to let her stay still. No matter what she did, she could only see the young Siren falling still and Roland collapsing in a pool of blood. She could feel her powers respond to her emotional distress rampaging out of control. She took it out on the bandits in Frostburn Canyon.

And then…?

A face flashed in her memory. Ah, right. Axton, that slightly goofy, but somewhat charming commando had come after her, despite her uncontrolled powers. He was with her when she passed out. She figured it was he who had also taken care of her after they got back to Sanctuary. The Siren smiled slightly in appreciation. That and Salvador had the emotional depth of a teaspoon and was probably as good at taking care of people as Dr. Zed was with surgery. She squeezed the water out of the washcloth and wiped her face quickly, feeling the cold cloth shock her nerves and wake her up. Maya gave a long sigh, letting the tension run out of her body. There was no use moping about, that much she knew. But at the same time, she didn't know what else to do. Something inside her told her to go back to Frostburn Canyon and finish off whatever she had left alive, but she knew she needed to take it easy for a couple days. After all, she hadn't let her powers flare like that since she ran away from Athenas. Stretching she got up and walked downstairs. Maya gagged slightly at the smell of stale alcohol, noting the broken bottles lying around as well as the unwashed glasses in the sink. It appeared that her partners had been gone for quite a while. Feeling a bit queasy, the Siren did what any resident of Pandora would do in this situation.

She propped the door open and left the house.

Taking a stop next door, Maya spoke briefly with Jessup about Mordecai and Brick. As far as she could tell, the door to the headquarters was locked and unfortunately, Salvador seemed to have run off with the key after a night of drinks. On top of that, Mordecai seemed to want to be alone, which was understandable. From what she gathered, Brick had left after he heard the news, likely to carry out threats of dismemberment and skinning. The lights inside headquarters was off and when she called out to Tannis, there was only a muffled noise from inside that sounded distinctly like "I'm busy". When she tried to reason with the scientist to get her to open the door, she got no response.

Resignedly, she went off to Moxxi's Bar.

There she chatted with Moxxi about the events of the first Vault opening on Pandora. Maya was particularly interested in Lilith's background, seeing as she had originally come to learn more about Sirens in general but didn't get much time to do so in the whirlwind of events that started with their train being blown apart by Jack. The topic of Roland seemed to distress the busty bartender so she stayed away from it. Instead, she asked Moxxi about the Vault Hunters in general, talking about their adventures, strategies, and eventual creation of the Crimson Raiders. This seemed to cheer the older woman up. About an hour and two light cocktails later, the Siren bid the Moxxi goodbye and began walking back to the Vault Hunters' house. As she neared the two story condo, she could hear Jessup yelling. Curious, she glanced around the corner to see the distraught Private berating a young girl with a suspiciously familiar hairstyle. From behind, the girl looked terrified as she backed away from the ranting Private, who was beginning to draw his weapon. She decided to intervene.

"Jessup! What's going on out here?"

As Jessup babbled his excuses, the Siren focused on the newcomer. The young girl jumped, surprised at the sudden voice behind her. She whirled and Maya's eyes locked onto electric blue irises. The last time she had seen those eyes, they were filled with defiance before closing forever. Recognition flashed across the girls face, but the older Siren was already moving. She lifted the feather-light girl into her arms, squeezing hard.

"You're alive!"

Maya continued hugging the poor girl as if the moment she let go, the young Siren would disappear forever. She was forced to stop when a light tap on her arm indicated that the girl couldn't breathe. Embarrassed, Maya let go and the girl gasped for breath. Eventually, color returned to her face. Maya stepped back, looking the girl over. She noticed the bandages on Angel's left arm.

"Are you okay?"

After a wheezy breath, Angel replied.

"Swell…"

The older Siren frowned and gestured at Angel's arm.

"No, I meant are you hurt?"

The young girl glanced down at the bandages and waved a dismissive hand.

"That was just to prevent people from noticing."

Maya turned her attention to more pressing matters.

"How are you alive? How did you get here? Why are you here?"

Angel held up a hand.

"Slow down! I'm not sure how I'm alive, but I was reconstructed outside Ellie's garage in The Dust. I met Zer0 out there and we've been travelling since. I couldn't get in because I'm not registered with the Fast-Travel station here, so I had to use some raw Eridium to fly up. I really need to talk to you guys. Zer0 told me Jack's got Lilith… I want to help bring him down."

Maya considered her request briefly. There were a lot of unanswered questions, but if Zer0 had brought her here, Angel could be a powerful ally. And she did trust Zer0's judgment, no matter how much his attitude annoyed her. The older Siren turned towards the Private turned doorman.

"Jessup, we're going in, I'd like to talk to Mordecai too. There's just too many things unanswered at this point."

Jessup shook his head stubbornly.

"No! That bitch will try to kill him or something!"

Maya gave the man a fearsome glare.

"Jessup. We're going in, and that's final."

The Private trembled under her gaze before giving a shaky nod. Stepping up to the door, Maya knocked again.

"Tannis! Can you let us in?"

As expected, there was no reply. Maya sighed.

"Well, kiddo, we're gonna have to get the keys for this place. It's locked and Tannis is being uncooperative. I think Salvador might have it."

Frowning, Angel walked up to the door.

"Let me try…"

She activated her ability and easily unlocked the old Dahl security door. Maya raised an eyebrow at this, but followed the young Siren inside. Inside, the air reeked of stale alcohol. Angel gagged slightly before coughing. Maya covered her nose with a hand, but it didn't seem to help much. At the bench, a slightly sleep-deprived scientist was working fervently on… something. The scientist looked up as they stepped inside.

"Finally someone does something for themselves! Honestly, I don't know how half the people here breath without someone helping them!"

She focused on Angel.

"Did you hack the door controls? Interesting. Not what I would have done, but the results are clear."

Angel frowned slightly. The scientist rambled on.

"Well of course you hacked the door! Is that your power? You're a good deal smarter than that other Siren who did nothing but repeatedly ask for me to open the door! The nerve of some people."

Maya had a forced smile on her face.

"I'm standing right here…"

This only served to annoy the scientist.

"Yes you are! No need to state the obvious. Please resume mindlessly staring at your feet."

Maya scowled, but the scientist ignored her. Tannis turned back towards Angel, staring at her intently. Angel stared back, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the piercing gaze.

"You're new here. How did you get here?"

The young Siren looked taken aback.

"Er… Zer0 and I drove here and then I flew up using raw Eridium…"

Tannis's eyes lit up with interest.

"Is that right? What a curious use of your Siren powers. Smart and simple. Unlike those idiots who use the Fast-Travel network. They don't understand the dangers of teleportation! No! They just blithely trundle along, assuming everything works properly!"

Angel looked confused.

"Why wouldn't it be safe?"

Tannis looked amused at the question.

"Why, because they deconstruct and reconstruct your body! I used it once and never again! I could taste blood after I used it! Who knows what else it did to me!"

She began to list off body parts, rambling on about how teeth had the right molecular structure to be disintegrated by the machines. Maya was becoming annoyed at the aimless direction the conversation was taking.

"Excuse us, Tannis. We need to speak with Mordecai."

She dragged the young Siren away, who had been drinking in Tannis's ramblings with rapt attention. The scientist let out an offended huff and returned to her work. As they walked up the stairs, they could hear a voice coming from within the Dahl operations room. Maya paused, a puzzled look on her face. She gestured for Angel to stop. Carefully, she opened the door. Inside, they found a drunken sniper slumped over the digital map. Bottles lay strewn across the floor. As they moved closer, they could hear his ramblings.

"Everything's gone to shit, Roland… What the hell do I know about commanding a resistance group?"

He paused slightly, as if listening to a response.

"But I'm a sniper! I don't do shit like that! I don't do 'taking charge'!"

Angel gave Maya a quizzical look and moved closer. The movement made the man turn towards the two woman. Even with his goggles on, the man looked like shit. He looked like he barely had enough energy to sit up, let alone stand. His head remained resting on the table as he spoke up again.

"Oh, look… It's the crazy Hyperion chick… She came to visit me too… Isn't that sweet of her, Roland?"

Maya now had a worried look on her face.

"Damn Jack… what a bastard, using his own daughter… Oh! Maybe Bloodwing will show up too if I drink more!"

Mordecai fumbled around under the table for another bottle of whatever he was drinking. Making up her mind, Maya walked over, left hand charged with energy. She reached out and gave the sniper a quick shock with her powers. He flew into the air, nerves on fire from the raw energy.

"¡Dios! What was that for!"

Shocked out of his drunken daze, Mordecai stared, wide-eyed at the intruders. The two Sirens glared back. Maya spoke up first, annoyance clear in her voice.

"Enough self-pity! I want some answers!"

Angel spoke in a softer, but still firm voice.

"Why didn't Roland regenerated at a New-U station?"

Mordecai rubbed his eyes tiredly and then looked back at the two.

"Do that again, Maya, I'm still seeing dead people…"

Angel crossed her arms and let out a huff.

"I'm alive, thank you very much. Now please answer the question."

The tormented man looked sadly at the two. He rubbed his face with both hands, trying to shake off the disorientation. Grabbing a bottle of water, he downed it before grabbing another one and sitting back down. Then, Mordecai gave a low sigh. It was a good minute or two before he finally spoke up.

"About a year after we opened the Vault, we learned that the New-U stations weren't all they were cracked up to be. See, they're not completely automated. Those bastards at Hyperion had a certain level of control over the systems. To some extent, they could control whether we lived or died at the click of a button. If you think about it, they being able to revive us also gave them the power to deconstruct our bodies on a whim."

Angel looked troubled.

"I've never heard of this… where did you get your information from?"

Mordecai smiled slightly.

"That crazy lady Tannis mentioned it offhand in one of her ramblings. We had always wondered why someone with so much grant money wouldn't invest in something so beneficial. I guess that's why she's always calling us idiots."

Maya frowned and muttered slightly under her breath.

"That and she's insane…"

Angel interjected.

"But I would have known! After we got here, all the commands effectively went through me! Besides, I never saw any indication that the New-U stations could do such a thing!"

Mordecai chuckled darkly.

"Did you know you would be revived?"

Angel froze. Mordecai continued.

"Do you even know who built those things? I know it wasn't Jack."

Angel struggled to remember.

"Some scientist back on Eden-6, I think…"

Mordecai countered again.

"Face it, kiddo. You were in control of Hyperion operations on Pandora, that much is for certain, but the New-U stations were controlled from elsewhere."

The young Siren didn't seem to accept this answer at all.

"But I could still connect to operations back on Eden-6…"

Mordecai frowned.

"I don't know how they did it, but I saw it with my own eyes. This one time, we went after this bandit called the Cash King to fund the resistance. The son of a bitch had amassed so much money, he could easily afford multiple New-U reconstructions and made it a point to input his DNA into the system. We killed him easily enough, but when he was deconstructed for the New-U station, he let out this horrible scream, like the freakin' chupacabra was after him. We waited for him to come back so we could kill him again after taking his money, but he never reappeared."

Maya was the one to interrupt this time.

"It sounds like whoever's doing this is on our side…"

Mordecai took a drink before answering.

"You forget, no matter what, it was still Hyperion. Who knows why the Cash King was permanently deconstructed. Maybe he forgot a payment, maybe Hyperion was screwing around with us. Either way, it was a risk we weren't willing to take. That kind of thing could easily turn the tide of a battle if we were forced to fight against Hyperion too early."

Mordecai continued on, seeming to gain strength as he continued to speak.

"Honestly, it didn't sit right with me. From the looks of it, there was some other omnipotent person controlling that system. We had no idea what side he was on, if the person even had a side. Hell, it was a risk when we got Tannis to get us out of the system. First, we had no idea if she succeeded, and second we didn't know if whoever was controlling it would catch on and kill one of us before we could all get out of the system."

Angel crossed her arms, looking annoyed.

"I don't know much about Tannis's abilities, but I don't think you can just take your names out of the New-U station like that…"

Mordecai shrugged.

"I dunno what she did, but it was more than just hacking. If you haven't noticed, the lady can be quite… intimate when it comes to inanimate objects…"

He gave a shudder and turned to Maya.

"So there you go. Sorry we had to let you lot do most of the work because we couldn't afford to die. We're not proud of it, but we needed to keep the citizens of Sanctuary hopeful, and who knows what this planet would be like if all four of us had died… But then Roland got ahead of himself, thinking we could end it all if we did one massive strike… and look where that got us."

The sniper slumped back in his seat, suddenly looking very old. Maya wandered over to the balcony and leaned back.

"He needs to be taken down, any ideas?"

Mordecai looked thoughtful for a moment before his eyes widened with comprehension.

"That's it! Why didn't I think of it before! The Hyperion Info Stockade!"

There was a loud bang outside and Mordecai paused. Casually, Maya glanced down at the city center from the balcony of the Crimson Raiders Headquarters. She watched as a brown haired man decked out in a soldier's uniform ran out from the house next door. There was a frantic look in his eyes as he looked left and right before locking his eyes onto the building that housed the Fast-Travel network for Sanctuary. He began to move in that direction. Maya smiled softly, knowing the thoughts going through the man's head. Placing thumb and forefinger to her lips, she let out a sharp whistle. The piercing tone caught the man's attention, as well as scaring many of the citizens milling around in near Sanctuary's engine. She watched as his head snapped up to stare at her, giggling lightly as she watched his shoulders slump noticeably. He made his way over and soon disappeared into the building. A few moments later and he was trudging up the stairs. Her lips twitched as she put on a teasing air.

"Going somewhere?"

Axton slumped down into a nearby chair, looking thoroughly relieved.

"I thought you had run away again."

Still stringing him along, she pretended to be angry.

"And I wouldn't be able to take care of myself? Do you think I'm some kind of damsel in distress?"

Angel watched this exchange with growing interest. Mordecai seemed to find this amusing and sipped casually on a bottle of rakk ale. The soldier was growing more and more flustered.

"Well, no… I just… I mean… I was worried you know…"

He ended quietly, looking down at the floor. Maya felt a twinge of guilt and decided to cut the guy a break.

"Well, even if I did, you'd come help me anyway, right?"

At her soft words, the soldier looked up and flashed her a cheesy grin.

"Right."

She changed the topic.

"Where's Salvador? Or Zer0 for that matter? I haven't seen either of them in a while."

Axton shrugged.

"Salvador crashed on the couch when we got back. I haven't seen Zer0 since we came back from Thousand Cuts."

Angel piped up.

"Zer0 was with me until a couple hours ago, he said he'd be coming right back."

The soldier started, eyes wide with shock as he whirled to stare at Angel.

"Geez! When did you get here! And how are you alive?"

Angel laughed and couldn't resist teasing him a bit.

"Too focused on a certain Siren, huh, lover boy?"

He flushed red at this. It was true, after all, he had been so relieved when he found out that Maya was still in Sanctuary that he hadn't really paid any attention to his surroundings. Angel smiled when Maya looked a bit embarrassed at this as well. Coughing slightly, Maya turned her attention back to Mordecai.

"Well, we can fill them in later. As bleak as things have turned out, we really gotta start doing something against Jack. He's had Lilith charging that Key for almost three days now without interference, and we all know Lilith's Siren abilities are well above normal. Now, what were you saying about the Hyperion Info Stockade?"

Mordecai nodded.

"All information gets stored there. If we can get to it, we can find out where the Warrior is."

He grabbed his ECHO communicator and punched in a number. After a while, the other side picked up. Mordecai used his most commanding voice, which wasn't saying much since he was still coming off his bender.

"Brick! We're finding out where the Warrior is! Go get something we can attack Hyperion with!"

A rough, raucous laughter sounded from the speaker of the communicator.

" 'bout time!"

The line cut off. Mordecai turned back to the group.

"If you can get yourself there, we can find the Warrior."

He gestured for them to gather around the digital map they had of Pandora.

"Here's what we're gonna do…"

…

The next morning, after they restocked their supplies, the four Vault Hunters and Angel were lining up to head towards The Dust, where they planned on driving towards the Eridium Blight. Zer0 had arrived midway through their discussion on the Hyperion Info Stockade. To Angel's dismay, he had also brought back the scrap metal that used to be the old Jakobs rifle that once belonged to Salvador. She tried to apologize to Salvador, but he laughed it off and bought her a better one before proceeding to drink and pass out. Now, Axton went first through the Fast-Travel station, followed by a hung-over Salvador. As Maya stepped up to use the machine, Mordecai ran into the room. She paused with the destination selection screen open, glancing at the winded sniper.

"Angel, Zer0, wait a moment. I got a favor to ask of you. Maya, you go help the other two."

Mordecai beckoned Angel and Zer0 over. Maya shrugged slightly and left for The Dust.

"So from what I hear, you've been travelling with this little lady, yeah?"

Zer0 gave a curt nod.

"Like you said yesterday, you don't have many destinations registered for the Fast-Travel network, just here and Ellie's place, yeah?"

Angel shook her head briefly.

"Overlook as well."

Mordecai nodded.

"Talk to Tannis, I think she likes you enough to help you with that, hell, I think you're the first person she's ever complimented. She might be able to get you hooked up to the rest of the stations that the current Vault Hunters have been to… or at least I assume that's what she told me. Anyway, you might need to access some of those places eventually, or maybe you won't. But the point is, get Tundra Express registered if you can."

Angel nodded hesitantly, wondering where all this was going.

"The favor?"

The sniper cleared his throat before he continued, though with a bit less certainty than before.

"There's this kid… Zer0, you know her. Name's Tiny Tina. Roland always kept an eye out for here and, well, with Jack about to use the Warrior for mass genocide, Hyperion's been tightening up their security. They've been hitting bandit camps more often and completely wiping them out. I think it might be safer for her to come here to stay a bit closer to us and away from the bandits."

The Siren frowned and glanced at Zer0 briefly, who remained impassive.

"The lady from Overlook agreed to look after her for a while if you convince her to leave her hideout. Since they're mostly fine now that they got their medicine shipments, Tina should be fine there."

Mordecai paused, frowning for a moment.

"That is, assuming she'll go with you."

Angel shifted her weight onto one leg with one hand against her hip.

"And what if she doesn't?"

Mordecai shrugged.

"Try to convince her?"

Zer0 let out an annoyed sigh. Angel didn't look much more pleased with the vague instructions.

"We'll try… no promises though."

The sniper nodded.

" 's all I ask."

The pair watched as the man walked back towards headquarters, stumbling slightly. The young Siren glanced at her traveling companion again. He stared blankly back at her. She gave an exaggerated sigh before shrugging dramatically.

"Well, let's go try at least. What do you know about her? I've only heard her mentioned by you guys."

Zer0 followed her to the Fast-Travel station where she had opened the menu and selected Overlook.

"Lives in the tundra, / A young explosives expert, / She is unstable."

The sniper deadpanned as she stared icily at the man, once again annoyed at his use of haiku.

"Great."

With that, she disappeared. The stoic assassin allowed himself a brief chuckle before leaving as well.

…

A/N: There you go! Now back to work! (You didn't think I was done did you?) I still gotta touch up my application for Monday and work on this written exam.

See you next week! (Hopefully.)


	8. Meeting

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! (Even though it was technically a couple days ago.) Hope you like the story picture I posted… should be in that funny box that used to contain my avatar. It was a quick sketch I did around Chapter 3-4 when I had a bit of time on my hands.

Note: Oh, a quick reminder, the timeline I'm using for the ECHOs present in the "Get to Know Jack" mission are as follows: 1, 3, 2, 5, and 4.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 7 – Meeting

Maya shivered slightly as a clammy wind blew across the stark landscape. Everything in this area seemed tinged by an unhealthy shade of purple. Flecks of… something… flickered across her vision, making her unconsciously brush at her face in disgust. She had been in this place less than a minute and she already wanted to go back to Sanctuary and take a nice, scalding hot shower to wash away the perceived filth. Her teammates didn't seem any happier with the situation they were in. Axton was a trained soldier, always alert, but in this polluted wasteland, his eyes darted this way and that in a nervous and uncomfortable manner. Even Salvador, who was often loudly commenting on everything from the scenery to their driving abilities, was unnaturally subdued. He sat quietly in the back of the Bandit Technical, slowly taking in the sights before him, but not speaking much. His shotgun lay clutched in his lap, ready for an attack.

It was a disturbing contrast. One minute, they were in the hot and dry heat of The Dust, and the next thing they knew, they were in the Eridium Blight. The tunnel they had passed had done little to prepare them for the brutal aftermath of Hyperion's mining operations. The bright clear skies were replaced by oppressive, purple smog and a dry, cracked earth. The air itself seemed to be polluted with some kind of taint which, scarily enough, appeared to hang over this area exclusively. As their vehicle slowly puttered forward towards the nearby Bounty Board, Mordecai explained to them that they weren't missing much. The place had been little more than a dusty crag before and Hyperion's mining had done little to improve its appearance. Still, something just felt wrong about the place. They approached the small outpost to check for missions and get their bearings. Axton spoke up, rubbing his arms uneasily.

"Let's just do what we gotta do here and leave. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

The others wholeheartedly agreed. They quickly grabbed the list of requests from the Bounty Board, not bothering to listen to the requests. As per Mordecai's instructions, they headed due east, towards the Hyperion Info Stockade. Maya wrapped her arms around her body as she stared out at the passing landscape. Even the creatures in this area seemed off. They had somehow managed to adapt to the harsh environment, but at a terrible cost. As the creatures chased the speeding vehicle in a mad frenzy, she thought they seemed to be screaming more in pain than anger. In fact, the only thing that didn't seem remotely bothered by the Eridium waste and Slag runoffs was the cold metal structures put in place by Hyperion. They followed the pipeline and the paved road towards a bridge that veered off into the distance, towards a brighter area.

However, as they approached, a female voice rang out over nearby loudspeakers and Axton was forced to come to a screeching stop as the bridge was raised, leaving a gap that descended down into disgusting looking water. The soldier swore and turned to his partners.

"It looks like we're stuck here until we can get some help lowering this bridge. We might as well get some of these requests out of the way… might yield something useful."

Maya gave a small moan of annoyance and Salvador cringed visibly.

…

Getting access to the Vault Hunter's Fast Travel stations was a bit harder than initially anticipated. Tannis didn't agree to help out until Angel agreed to answer a whole slew of questions ranging from the specifics of her powers to her least favorite foods. The young Siren was completely drained by the time Zer0 reminded the inquisitive scientist that they were pressed for time. Tannis had then asked why Angel couldn't do such an adjustment herself using her powers. After explaining what a convoluted mess the Fast-Travel network was, Tannis suggested that Angel use herself as a relay terminal and copy the data from Zer0's Fast Travel account, rather than trying to directly change the status of her own Fast Travel account. It took all of ten minutes for Angel to successfully replicate the access privileges. Tannis had then continued asking her questions until Zer0 forcibly dragged the poor girl away. She sat slouched in the passenger seat of the Bandit Technical they grabbed from Overlook, eyes closed and not speaking. As amusing as it was, Zer0 remained silent, letting the exhausted Siren rest from her ordeal. After about an hour of driving Angel spoke up.

"I don't understand why we're doing this. Do we have this kind of time to waste?"

Zer0 barely glanced over at her.

"Mordecai's main concern is the safety of the innocents on Pandora. This is something that needs to be done, especially in light of Roland's death. Trust in the others."

Angel perked up at this, noticing that the assassin had finally dropped his childish persistence in using haikus when speaking to her. She chose her words carefully, afraid that the wrong thing would cause him to resume his former speech patterns.

"How did you end up with those three anyway? Jack just had me herd all the potential Vault Hunters onto that train."

Zer0 was silent for a moment, thinking. An ellipse projected from his mask indicated that he was considering his answer. After a few minutes of driving in silence, he answered.

"It was Axton that brought us together. That man is a surprisingly good judge of combat ability. He approached us based almost purely on gut feeling, saying that he thought we could work efficiently and should stick together to make Vault Hunting a more survivable ordeal. I don't think he even knew Maya was a Siren until she used her abilities against Captain Flint."

The young Siren watched him speak with great attention. Even though she was out and about in Pandora, the former Hyperion A.I. still enjoyed data collection. Zer0's explanation was filling in several blanks she had in her memory from just prior to the train explosion.

"And?"

Angel waited eagerly for more. Zer0 turned his head for a fraction of a second.

"That's it. I joined them because I felt it was a good arrangement. They all seemed a touch less selfish than the majority of the people on that train."

The girl pouted, annoyed that the story was over. After a moment, Zer0 spoke again.

"I'd like to know why you helped Jack for so long."

Angel glanced over at the man, surprised that he was even remotely interested in such a story, much less actually requesting an answer. She frowned, looking down and mumbling an answer.

"It's not that interesting… I was just stupid…"

Zer0 pressed on, undeterred.

"To help such evil / Though one is unwilling to, / A reason exists."

Angel twitched slightly when he spoke in haiku again. She gave a sad sigh and tried to explain.

"I guess I just wanted to prove myself to him… You know… more than just a… useless freak…"

The Bandit Technical slid to a sudden stop. The young Siren let out a soft "oof" as she bounced off the dashboard. She glared angrily at the alien assassin.

"Watch your driving!"

The man gave her a stony look.

"If you are a freak, what does that make me?"

The girl's face flushed in shame. He continued on, a blank look on his mask.

"You spent years enslaved by a man who, no matter how badly he treated you, was your father. It is unsurprising you were able to refuse his demands. You are neither useless nor a freak, simply a victim of a man was blinded by pride and greed."

The vehicle started to move again. He muttered, more to himself than to Angel.

"In a way, it reminds me of the Elders."

The wind rushed past their ears as the vehicle sped, once again, through the grasslands. The girl mulled over this quietly, feeling tears come to her eyes. Reluctantly, she quashed these feelings and rand a sleeve across her eyes. Sniffling slightly, she turned back to Zer0.

"Thanks…"

Though he didn't respond, the atmosphere between the two improved as they continued to drive. After some time, Angel mustered the courage to speak again.

"In the beginning, I showed him I could hack into Atlas's computers using my power. After a while, he decided he wanted to take over their search for the Vault. I was initially set up as a service core to the larger Hyperion computer system. I would oversee some smaller engineering projects while occasionally 'malfunctioning'. When I did, it was usually to kill or ruin one of Jack's rivals and enemies. This eventually allowed for Jack to easily take control of the engineering department and most of the aerospace department as well."

Zer0 nodded slightly, indicating that he was listening.

"He sent out Hyperion ships and engineers to Pandora to begin a small scale survey of the land and what resources could be found. Though he was actually looking for clues to the first Vault, this served as a legitimate excuse for the former President of Hyperion. He suspected nothing and Jack came up with a good enough proposal to indicate that Pandora had resources worth scouting for."

The Siren huddled to warm herself as the air gradually became colder.

"Once we set up, Jack had me contact the initial Vault Hunters and aid them in their quest. I tweaked the Hyperion New-U stations slightly to allow them to use it multiple times without going completely bankrupt. Rather than a ridiculously high flat fee, I adjusted it to take percentages instead. If you noticed, I did the same for you guys when you signed up to work as a Vault Hunter for Hyperion."

Zer0 let out a small "huh" of interest.

"Through the efforts of the four Vault Hunters, we were able to thwart Atlas's efforts and eventually succeeded in opening the Vault. I'll admit what we found inside surprised me as much as it did Roland and the others. But Jack saw this as an opportunity. We knew the energy signature of the Vault and I was tasked to search for others. You should've seen Jack's face when we found that Pandora had a second Vault. Coupled with the new Eridium mining, there was very little in his way to stop him from taking over Hyperion completely. Two months after the first Vault opening, Jack personally murdered the former Hyperion President."

Angel gave a sad sigh, shrugging her shoulders.

"And the rest, as you know, is history. Once Jack had full control of Hyperion it was simply a matter of moving all operations pertaining to the Vault to Pandora. Since I could easily oversee all the work on my own, Jack focused mostly on gathering the technology and manpower. After that, it became an easy task of forcibly taking control of any resistance towns and digging up the second Vault."

Zer0 nodded again, focusing on the increasingly rocky terrain. Angel looked over at the man who was intently steering the rickety vehicle, trying hard to prevent them from accidentally spinning out.

"Anything else you want to know?"

There was a light shake of his head as he responded.

"No, thank you for telling me this."

The young girl smiled slightly.

"Not much to say, really. I blindly followed orders thinking it would make him happy. I was a pretty stupid kid when I was younger…"

He glanced briefly over at her, giving her what she interpreted as a disapproving glance. Guiltily, she looked away.

"Sorry…"

Attempting to lighten the mood, Angel changed the subject.

"What are you going to do after all this?"

Zer0 didn't miss a beat in answering.

"Assuming we live through it?"

Oops. She tried again.

"Hypothetically, then."

Zer0 shrugged.

"Travel and train. I expect nothing different than what I was doing before I found out about the Vault on Pandora."

Angel looked away, staring out at the passing scenery.

"That seems… lonely."

Zer0 paused for a moment before answering.

"That's the life of a marked man."

With that, the conversation was effectively over. Angel sat quietly as Zer0 focused in earnest on driving. The two travelers skidded over rock and ice as the landscape gradually shifted from grasslands to ice. They had initially made a detour in The Highlands to grab a vehicle after Scooter mentioned he never bothered to put Catch-A-Ride stations in Tundra Station due to its inordinately high bandit population. In spite of this, it was a decently short trip and they reached the snowy tundra by noon. Carelessly running over the fields of varkids near an old abandoned farmhouse, they made their way towards the central mountain. Zer0 maneuvered the rusty Bandit Technical around the various mines embedded in the earth. Suddenly, he stopped the car several dozen meters away from an opening in the side of the mountain. Angel gave him a questioning look.

"Quiet."

He drew his weapon and crept forward. Angel copied his movements and followed. As they approached the Tina's cave, the Siren could make out gunfire and loud voices.

"Come out, girly! We'll only kill ya a little bit!"

A younger voice rang out over the gunfire.

"How rude! Teach them a lesson, will you Mister Fluffy?"

This was followed by a resounding explosion and accompanying screams. Zer0 locked eyes with Angel briefly before rounding the corner and opening fire on the remaining bandits attempting to crawl away. Angel did the same, though by this time, there was little left to shoot at. The entrance of the cavern looked like it had been subjected to several explosions, with some scorch marks looking older than others. There were also deep gouges in the rock wall and a mix of fresh and dried blood splattering the area. Angel lowered her weapon when it didn't look like there were any more bandits alive. A small head poked out from behind a nearby border.

"Oooh! It's the Vault Hunters… or one of 'em anyway. What's up! I'm just cleanin' my workspace… too much trash lyin' around."

The small girl had dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes similar to her own. She also wore a bloody psycho mask on the side of her head as if it were the most normal thing in the world. As she emerged completely from her hiding place, Angel noticed the girl had a slight limp. Zer0 stored his weapon and walked forward.

"This place grows unsafe, / Bandit populations rise, / You should relocate."

Angel wondered vaguely why he had switched back. At his words, the girl, who Angel assumed was Tiny Tina, groaned. She spoke, seeming to ignore Zer0's words.

"Oh. You're the weird one. Can you come back with someone who talks normal?"

Zer0 looked a little annoyed at this, but Angel stepped in before he could retort.

"Mordecai sent us. He thinks you'd be safer if you stayed in Overlook until this war is over."

Tina looked up at the young Siren.

"This here your lady? That's nice. Why's she spouting all this buttcrap?"

Angel tried again.

"Jack's almost ready to awaken the Warrior. All bandit clans have been joining together, trying to amass a group strong enough to take Hyperion down. No matter how disorganized they are, their size is still plenty dangerous. Mordecai thought it would be safer for you to stay in a safer place for now."

The tiny girl waved a disarming hand.

"Pfft. You ain't my mom. She's dead. Or my dad. He's dead, too. And unless your name's Roland, I ain't listenin' to ya."

Angel frowned. She had been afraid of this conversation, but it needed to be said.

"Tina… Roland was killed by Jack a couple days ago."

Tina froze, staring intently at the Siren. Angel noted mutely that one of the small girl's eyes had trouble looking forward, possibly due to some injury. Without warning, the bomb-maker grabbed Zer0 by the front of his sneaking suit. She had jumped forward and now had her feet planted on Zer0's thighs, pressing her face as close as she could to his helmeted head.

"Bitch, you'd better tell me what's goin' on. And if you lie to me… I will cut you…"

Despite the uncomfortable, semi-squatting position he was in, Zer0 let out a small sigh.

"The girl speaks the truth. / Roland was shot in the back / Killed by a coward."

He grabbed the girl by her shoulders, lifting her away from him. Her legs dangled limply as he held her at arm's length.

"Roland cared for you. / This is what he would have asked. / We will keep you safe."

In that moment, the tiny explosives expert looked like nothing more than a lost and lonely little girl. Angel felt a wave of sympathy for her. From what she had said earlier, Roland was probably the closest thing she had to a real family. Then, the small girl's face shifted from shock to rage and she began to thrash in Zer0's grip.

"Let me go! I'm gonna go murder that bastard! Nobody kills my friends and lives!"

It was a rather peculiar sight, such a young girl spouting such virulent threats. However, Angel had little time to worry about this as another voice rang out in the small cavern.

"Hey! Get away from my friend, bandit scum!"

Zer0 barely had enough time to turn before a massive monster of a machine rammed into him, sending him careening into the wall and dropping Tina. Angel managed to partially turn towards the source of the voice before she was also tackled to the ground. She found herself staring up into the barrel of a dangerous looking shotgun held by a furious looking redhead.

…

Three Vault Hunters stood near a small shack built on the edge of a small cliff. They stared blankly at a button adorned by a sign on the side of the building.

**CRISIS COUNSELING**

**THERE IS HOPE!**

**MAKE THE PUSH!**

Not moments ago, they had witnessed a curious sight. A bandit had happily run off the edge of the cliff, shouting something about being rich. Axton suspected it had something to do with the incredibly shady mission they had picked up from the local Bounty Board, in which Jack had offered a reward for killing themselves. And now, an even more questionable sign stood out in amidst the rocky rubble and volcanic ash. The entire mission seemed suspiciously easy: kill yourself, get paid. However, ever since they learned of the circumstances behind Roland's death, the Vault Hunters had been rather cautious about using the New-U Stations.

"So…"

Axton started, unsure of what to do in this situation. Suddenly, a hand shot forward and pushed the alluring button on the wall. A pleasant female voice rang out of the speaker.

"Thank you for calling the Hyperion Suicide Prevention Hotline. Handsome Jack regrets to inform you that you are a coward."

There was a burst of laughter from their ECHO communicators from Jack. Maya and Axton turned to glare at Salvador. The diminutive man stared back with a defiant look on his face.

"What?"

…

Once again, Angel found herself perilously close to death. She stared up at the angry visage of a redheaded girl. The girl had her knees pressed tightly against the sides of the Siren's torso, making it difficult to breath. In her periphery, Angel saw Zer0 struggling to fend off a flying robot that was trying its hardest to eviscerate him. She coughed heavily, choking out a few words.

"We're not bandits…"

The girl sneered.

"Right. And Deathtrap is a bunny rabbit. I warned you losers to stay away from this place. Did you honestly think that after that many people failed, you would succeed?"

Angel shook her head stubbornly.

"We're not bandits!"

She repeated the words with more force. The barrel of the girl's shotgun pressed down hard onto Angel's chest.

"Then why the hell are you attacking Tina?"

There was a crash nearby as Zer0 continued his skirmish with the robot. Angel's breathing quickened as she spoke.

"We weren't! We're here to get her to safety! War is about to break out all over Pandora!"

At this, the pressure eased off. The redhead glared at the Siren and a tense silence followed.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

The girl stared at Angel shrewdly.

"He's a Vault Hunter! Call off your robot! Please, we only wanted to talk!"

Zer0 and the robot were now locked in a standstill, with the robot pushing down on the assassin with both arms and the assassin using the ground to lock his arms into place. Her attacker's eyes flickered over to Tina, who was now sitting in the snow, a stunned look on her face.

"Tina, you know these two?"

The bomb maker spoke in a small voice which seemed completely out of character for her.

"Just that one."

The redhead cocked an eyebrow as she glared down at her prisoner.

"Is that so?"

Angel scrambled to explain.

"I'm new! I haven't met Tina before today either."

This seemed to mollify her attacker a little.

"DT! Down, boy."

There was a mechanical whirring and the robot floated over to its master. The armed girl got up slowly, weapon still aimed at the Siren.

"Explain."

After that single command, Angel rushed through the events that had led to Roland's death and Mordecai's reasoning for moving the young explosives expert. The redheaded girl let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of her neck tiredly with her left hand. Angel noticed that her left arm was fully prosthetic. Finally, the girl spoke.

"To be honest, this explains a lot. I've been trying to figure out Hyperion's movements for a while now, but I had no idea how to get in contact with the Vault Hunters."

Angel nodded, turning to Tina.

"Please come with us. We'll be attacking Jack as soon as we find the location of the Warrior. Mordecai and Brick are both worried about you."

Several long minutes passed before the tiny girl finally nodded glumly. Angel let out a breath of relief before turning back to the redheaded girl.

"What will you do?"

The girl frowned and tilted her head slightly as if the answer was obvious.

"I'm going with you. Sounds like you could use all the firepower you can get. If it keeps Tina safe, I'll fight with you."

Angel smiled brightly.

"Sounds good. By the way, my name is Angel, and this is Zer0, one of the Vault Hunters."

The Siren held out her bandaged left hand. Right hand still gripping her shotgun, the girl shook it with her prosthetic arm.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Gaige."

…

Meanwhile, on Eden-5, several hundred people prepared for war. The Vladof Liberation Front had set up camp on the rocky outskirts of the capital city. The campaign would be a difficult one, but it followed a fairly simple outline: eliminate the major Hyperion corporate threat in the Capital while minimizing civilian casualties, establish a strong Vladof presence in the Capital, and purge any remaining corruption caused by Hyperion. People of all species, races, and ethnicities gathered under the command the Generalissimus for a single cause, to purge corporate corruption from the galaxy. With the main base of operations located on the distant planet of Pravadas, Vladof's employees usually found themselves on these intergalactic missions, designing weapons on an as-needed basis.

On one side of this camp, a massive robot lay on its side, curved body glinting dully in the sunlight. The father of a certain mecromancer picked his way carefully around the tangle of wires spilling out from the inside of the machine's shell. Eventually, he made his way to the entrance of a particularly large tent which sported singe marks here and there. The man entered and cleared his throat, causing the woman inside to turn towards him. She had her white blonde hair tied back in a bun and was sporting a dusty pair of goggles. Her hands and face were covered with flecks of oil and grease, testament to her recent activities. The man indulged himself for a moment, reveling in the woman's beauty which shone through these miniscule flaws. Then he stepped closer and spoke.

"Antonia, love, about these combat robots you're building…"

She gave him a winning smile.

"Aren't they cute? I've had this design in my head for so long, but I never got a chance to build them!"

Michael Tolstoi stared incredulously at his loving wife.

"Erm… cute? You call that monstrous hunk of metal outside cute?"

Antonia rolled her eyes.

"Well, no. That one's meant to be intimidating, duh. I mean the portable models! We can set these up in a perimeter whenever we're holding an area!"

She hoisted a much smaller replica of the beast outside from below her workbench and set it gently on its legs. Its small white body looked sleek and elegant compared to the mottled looking machine outside. She smiled happily at him.

"They even talk!"

Michael frowned, suddenly worried that his wife had lost her mind.

"Er… talk?"

Without responding, she fiddled around with something in the back of the machine. Suddenly, a red "eye" flickered on. The lens inside shifted slightly as it focused on the man before it. After a moment, it squeaked out in a small voice.

"Hello."

Antonia looked beside herself with joy.

"Isn't it awesome?"

Michael looked like he thought otherwise about the strange robot before him, but agreed anyway.

"Uh… yeah, sure. I'll… uh… leave you to it then."

He moved forward and gave his wife a small kiss before turning and strode off. His wife stared after him as he left. After a moment, the small robot spoke up.

"Goodnight."

The lens dimmed. Antonia gave a small smile and patted the robot.

"Let's fix up your firing mechanism."

…

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Lots of stuff to do, even through Thanksgiving Break. I really gotta stop cramming full chapters into Friday night/Saturday 2-3AM.

See you next week!


	9. Receiving

A/N: Whee! It's December! Glad you're all enjoying the story still. Just to give you an idea where I'm headed, I plan to go to the end of the game and a small event just afterwards. At this point, I have no plans to delve into the DLC within this story.

To JesseSlayer: Thanks for that note. I had my suspicions that not doing the DLC would leave me in the dark about further developments of the Borderlands universe and you just proved it. This pretty much solidified my resolve to not mention the DLC in this story. For all intents and purposes, this story will be strictly within the Main Game cannon.

On that note this story is… about half done? Exactly half done? Somewhere thereabouts, I might add a bit more here and there but that's a pretty good estimate. I'll leave you to wonder what goodies are gonna show up. Some scenes I feel real strongly about and hope to make as well written as possible. Other scenes haven't been thought up yet! That's the beauty of making up stories!

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 8 – Receiving

By the time they Tina had packed everything she needed for crafting explosives, the sun was already beginning to sink in the sky. Gaige suggested that they leave in the morning, something Zer0 and Angel didn't particularly prefer, but couldn't see any other way as Karima would likely be asleep by the time they showed up. It wasn't like the leader of Overlook was expecting them to show up at any particular time, she likely assumed the Vault Hunters would stick to their "whenever convenient" creed and would welcome the small girl when she arrived. She sure wasn't going anywhere. So the three girls stayed in Tina's cozy albeit somewhat dangerous workshop while Zer0 was stayed in the Bandit Technical and took first watch.

"Are you alright?"

From her place on the ground, the young Siren looked at the small girl. Tina had been silent all afternoon while the others had helped her pack what little belongings she owned. While they had been carefully storing the extra gunpowder, Gaige mentioned quietly that it was abnormal for Tina to be that quiet unless she was asleep. This led to a worrisome development as Angel continued to watch the bomb maker throughout the afternoon. Tina remained silent as she crawled under her covers, turning away from the other two girls. Angel exchanged a glance with Gaige, who looked none the happier about her friend's actions. The mechromancer was idly tuning her arm, barely paying attention to her own actions as her right hand moved by muscle memory.

"Tina? I know you don't know me too well, but do you want to talk about it?"

The girl gave no response, merely turning her body towards the wall. She lay there with her back towards them.

"Please, Tina. We're your friends… well, Gaige is at least."

Seeing that she had no intention of talking, Angel sighed quietly as her shoulders drooped. She looked back over at Gaige, silently asking if there was anything the mechromancer could do for the heartbroken girl. Gaige simply shook her head slightly before returning to her arm. The Siren laid down on her sleeping bag, staring up at the roof of the tiny house.

"You were incredibly brave to have lived here on your own for so long… how long have you been here anyway?"

Gaige raised an eyebrow, also interested in the answer, but none came. Angel frowned and then turned to Gaige.

"How did you end up here anyway?"

Gaige laughed lightly. She set down her screwdriver and closed a panel on her prosthetic.

"Funny story, really. Plainly speaking, I killed someone."

Angel arched an eyebrow, before speaking carefully.

"Haven't we all…"

Gaige shrugged.

"Daughter of an influential man, bought her way out of everything… it was distressing to say the least, but I got over it."

The engineer continued glibly.

"My dad was actually more okay with it than I was, strangely enough. He said we could all move to Aquator if I wanted to, but I decided to come here instead. My parents seemed pretty cool with everything, I think my mom bombed the guy's mansion for fun…"

She trailed off.

"I never did get to ask him about his past with mom…"

Angel looked over at Tina, who was still curled up on her bed. She turned back to Gaige and continued talking.

"But how'd you end up here, with Tina I mean? Tundra Express hardly seems like the place a traveler would stay for long."

Gaige smiled.

"I was actually out looking for you lot. Do you know how confusing the reports from Hyperion are getting? I'm not even sure what's going on anymore. Anyway, Tina saved me when I was in a bit of a pinch. I found myself here in her workshop. Considering the giant hole in the wall was the only entrance and exit to the cave, I decided to stick around and guard her."

A cold voice interrupted their conversation.

"You should just let me die out here."

Both girls on the floor of the warehouse turned to the small child curled up on the bed, still looking away from them. Angel felt nervous, unsure at how to respond to such a dark suggestion. Hell, for someone who had barely shaken off her own traumas, she was hardly in any position to advise the girl. Fortunately, her friend spoke up in a firm voice.

"No."

Tina sat up suddenly, anger and rejection in her eyes.

"And why the hell not? I don't need your pity!"

Gaige shook her head sadly.

"I'm your friend, Tina. I won't let you do something stupid like that."

Angel saw that same lost look in the young girl's eyes again as she threw herself back onto her bed. She could barely hear the young girl sniffling. In the dim light of the workshop, she could see Tina's thin shoulders trembling as the girl cried silently. The Siren got up from her place on the ground and sat down on the edge of the young girl's bed. She placed a comforting hand on Tina's exposed arm. The bomb maker twitched slightly before Angel's hand was slapped away. She was suddenly met with a angry, tear-stained face.

"I trusted them to keep him safe!"

Angel swallowed hard, fighting back tears. She wrapped her arms around the trembling girl, hugging her tightly as she tensed up again. The Siren mused to herself sadly.

'It must be some kind of defensive reflex. What kind of life did she live to develop this?'

The shock had worn off and the girl started to struggle.

"Get off me! Lemme go!"

Tina thrashed against the young Siren, but she simply tightened her grip.

"I'm so sorry, Tina."

The girl's movement weakened as she lost strength to protest.

"It's not fair…"

Tina pressed her tear-stained face to Angel's shirt and wept bitterly. She continued to repeat those words as she remained leaning against the Siren for support. Gaige also go up and sat down on the bed, running a hand soothingly over the crying girl's back. There was little else they could do. They could find no words of comfort for the broken girl who had lost someone dear to her.

Outside the workshop, Zer0 leaned against the wall, an expressionless look on his face. He turned his helmet around in his hands idly as he considered what he had just heard. After a few minutes, he pushed himself away from the way and returned to the Bandit Technical. Tossing his helmet into the passenger seat, he thought of his training with Atlas. The assassin rubbed his face, shaking off his sleepiness before returning to his vigil. One night without sleep was easily tolerable.

…

The three Vault Hunters had been all too happy to leave the Eridium Blight as Brick directed them towards Sawtooth Cauldron to pick up explosives. However, while the place looked a lot healthier than the Blight, it was hardly the greatest location to set up camp. Three times throughout the night they had been ambushed, twice by bandits and once by a thresher. They gave up trying to get proper sleep and simply went about their tasks as usual. The three spent the better part of the morning pushing through the impressively large bandit and thresher population. More than once did one of them wonder how the two groups continued to live side by side. Sore and tired, they all wanted nothing more than to head back for a well deserved rest, but not before finishing off one last request.

"Beacon down! Right there, RIGHT THERE! RIGHT NOW!"

The strange goliath was beside himself with joy, a trail of froth and spittle oozing out from behind his mask. He clutched his tiny plastic bag containing a small goldfish, he stared longingly at the sleek metal contraption. Axton held out a placating hand as Salvador moved the heavy beacon into place.

"Easy there, buddy. We've got your beacon. Now, about that payment?"

The hulking man thrust a crumpled pile of bills and a couple bars of Eridium at the soldier, who barely had time to reach out and grab it before he was roughly shoved aside.

"I'll activate the beacon! So I can leave! Leave this planet for GOOD!"

Maya, who was next in his rampaging path, was also knocked down with the same meaty fist. Salvador barely had time to hop back out of the way as a swinging hand swished through where he had been a second ago. The goliath started hammering on the single button of the lunar supply beacon.

"I can LEAVE! Finally found a way off this JACK-FORSAKEN PLANET!"

Axton, who had shaken off the shock from being tossed aside, mumbled groggily to himself.

"Yeah, that's nice… wait, what did you say?"

Sensing something was amiss, Salvador had continued inching back, away from the deranged goliath.

"TAKE ME! FREAKIN' TAKE MEEEEEE!"

Axton reached out and grabbed a stunned Maya.

"Shit! Get down!"

There was a rattling boom as a thirty ton, steel shipping container crashed down onto the rickety platform. Axton instinctively curled up around the disoriented Siren, shielding her from the blast as Salvador pressed himself against the stray containers nearby. The goliath was not so much crushed as he was disintegrated. The mass of flesh and bone dissolved into a red mist, showering the area with blood and gore. The gunzerker stared incredulously at the wreckage. Axton pushed himself up, wincing in pain as his shoulder protested loudly at the movement. Beneath him, the blue-haired Siren stirred, her eyes fluttering open.

"Thanks, Axton. I owe you one."

Her words were mostly lost to the soldier as he stared in awe at the shipping container which had violently displaced both man and beacon.

"Uh… yeah…"

Suddenly, the metal platform on top of The Buzzard Nest groaned precariously. The three Vault Hunters froze, terrified that any small movement would send them tumbling to the rocks below. After a good minute, nothing else happened and they breathed a sigh of relief. Axton stood and straightened himself shakily before helping Maya up as well.

"Uh… wow… let's, uh… let's just go."

Salvador was still staring at the wreckage as the other two began making their way to the west side of The Buzzard Nest.

"What an idiot."

He finally managed to tear his gaze away and rushed to catch up with the others. Maya was standing at the edge, gazing down and gauging the fall. On the side, Axton was fiddling with something in his backpack. He motioned over to them.

"Anyone need a ride? I can take one of you two down with me."

Salvador snorted.

"Just man up and jump. Like this!"

With that, the stout man carelessly flung himself off the edge of the platform. Because he didn't pick a landing spot, the gunzerker simply crashed through the shabby roof of a building below, causing the structure to come crumbling down on him seconds later. Axton hardly missed a beat as he turned to Maya.

"Join me?"

She shook her head, smiling.

"I got this."

She too leapt. The Siren descended quickly, aiming at a small patch of ground. Several meters above the ground, her energy pulsed as she cushioned her fall, resulting in a light landing in the dirt. Maya looked back up at him and waved for him to come as well. Axton sighed despairingly.

"Dammit… so close."

Shaking his head sadly, he took a running jump off the platform. After a short drop, the man pulled a string, causing a medium sized parachute to unfurl. Gracefully, he glided on towards the entrance of Sawtooth Cauldron. Maya gave a short yell before chasing after him. Nearby, in the rubble of a shack, a certain gunzerker gingerly crawled out of the rubble, wincing at the scrapes and minor injuries.

"Aye cabrón…"

Still grimacing in pain, he hurried on after his teammates.

…

The four travelers left Tundra Express first thing in the morning. Angel vaguely wondered why she hadn't been woken for her watch, but didn't ask about it as neither Gaige nor Zer0 hadn't mentioned anything either. Tina was still no speaking much, but didn't appear to be as distraught as the day before. She simply sat in the back of the Bandit Technical holding a stuffed animal and staring blankly ahead. Leaving earlier allowed them to reach Overlook just before noon. But as they approached Karima's house, the young girl started looking hesitant again. She fell back as they rang the doorbell and the older woman opened the door invitingly. Tina spun around, face showing an unusual amount of worry.

"You're coming back, right?"

Angel smiled, ruffling the young girl's hair.

"Of course we are. Jack's days are numbered."

Gaige chose this moment to pipe up.

"Tina, I was thinking. You don't have anyone taking care of you after this is all over right?"

Tina shook her head, causing her mask to slip a bit before she pushed it back up. Karima looked questioningly at the two girls and leaned against the doorframe, letting them talk.

"I'm thinking of asking my parents if they'd be willing to adopt you, maybe get you off Pandora. It'll be good for you, I think."

Tina's face was a mask of confusion, reluctance, and hope. Then she muttered.

"You know I make bombs. No one wants that kinda crap up in their house."

Gaige let out a bright laugh.

"Hello? Have you seen the things I build? I'm not the only one like this in the family? Come on, let me give it a shot?"

The small girl's eyes were full of hesitation. She was trying hard not to get her hopes up but nodded anyway. Gaige took out her ECHO communicator and pressed a couple buttons. It hissed static as the machine attempted to connect to a different planet. After a minute, someone picked up.

"Seidin speaking."

Gaige paused, a confused look on her face.

"Er… hello?"

The man on the other side sounded impatient.

"If this is not important, please call back later. We are very busy."

This snapped Gaige out of her reverie.

"Woah, wait! Wait! I'm looking for my mom or dad, how did you get this phone? Are they okay?"

The man snapped back.

"I would prefer not to reveal our location at this time."

The mecromancer seemed to take offence to this.

"Listen buddy. Whoever you are, if my parents are hurt in any way…"

A female voice sounded in the background.

"Tusya! I said answer my phone, not badger the person on the other line! Who is it?"

The man spoke again, at the female.

"An unknown. Claims to be your daughter."

There were sounds of a scuffle in the background followed by a highly irritated voice.

"Give me that! Go away, Tusya, don't you have troops to command? Michael! Take care of the turrets for a bit!"

Now that the voice was closer, she Gaige recognized it as her mother's. Her father's voice whined out as well.

"But 'tonia… they keep making these random blips… I think it's music. What did you do to them?"

Finally, her mother answered the phone.

"Gaige? Sweetie? How's Pandora?"

She asked as if Gaige was simply on a field trip.

"Not bad, mom."

Antonia continued.

"How's DT?"

Gaige rolled her eyes.

"He's fine. Made some upgrades, the usual."

Her mother let out a small 'hm' of acknowledgement. Gaige took this chance to speak.

"Who was that?"

Antonia seemed distracted.

"Hm? Oh, Tusya? He's the Generalissimus of Vladof."

Gaige stared at the ECHO communicator for a moment.

"What."

Her mother simply brushed it off.

"Never mind, Tusya Seidin is just a really rude man. Honestly, I ask him to answer the phone and he still manages to make a mess out of it. It's not like I give my number out to strange people you know."

Nearby, Tina was rocking back and forth, mentally urging the engineer to hurry it up. If anyone had been any closer, they would've heard the young girl repeating the word 'please' over and over under her breath. Gaige got straight to the point.

"Mom, can we adopt someone into the family?"

Antonia considered this for a moment.

"Someone you met on Pandora, I take it? I didn't think there were kids there… except for you of course."

Gaige frowned slightly, glancing at Tina.

"No, they're just really rare because of all the violence. Her name's Tina. She lost her parents when she was young and the one taking care of her was recently murdered by Jack."

Tina looked saddened, but kept her composure. Antonia swore under her breath.

"Well our informant tells us that the Vault Hunters are preparing to attack Jack. We're working as fast as we can on our end to stop him. Is Tina with you? Could I speak with her?"

Gaige seemed to be getting progressively confused with the conversation.

"Yeah, I'm helping them in that attack… Wait, what do you mean 'on your end'?"

Antonia made a dismissive noise.

"Never mind that. Is Tina actually around?"

The mechromancer sighed and handed the ECHO communicator over to Tina. Her voice betrayed her nerves.

"H-hello?"

Antonia seemed to brighten a bit.

"Yes, hi! Is this Tina?"

Tina tried to sound cheerful.

"Yup."

There was a pause.

"Would you like to come live with us?"

The bluntness of the question caught the normally spunky girl completely off guard. Tina could only whisper.

"Yes, please."

Antonia chuckled good-naturedly.

"No need to be so formal, dear. I must warn you, our family can get a bit intense about certain things. I mean, look at Gaige and DT."

Her daughter protested loudly in the background. Tina found her voice and choked out a few words.

"It's cool. I make stuff blow up."

A laugh came from the other end.

"You'll fit right in. One more thing, this is for Gaige too. You there, sweetie?"

Gaige moved closer to the receiver of the communicator.

"I'm here mom."

Antonia continued.

"Good. I meant to call you about this earlier, but your father and I got caught up in work. We're still thinking about heading off to Aquator after this Hyperion thing is over. We might get called in again, but we figured it would be a nice place to stay in the mean time."

Michael's voice came drifting out of the ECHO communicator again.

"Antonia…"

The lady sighed.

"Suck it up, ya big sissy!"

She turned her attention back to the conversation.

"So, Tina. If you're okay with that, I'd love for you to join our family. It would be good for Gaige to have someone to stay with too if she doesn't want to join us."

Michael's voice sounded again, this time more urgently.

"Antonia! They're singing now! It's getting kind of scary to be in here… wait, is that Italian?"

Her mother let out a frustrated sigh.

"I gotta go, Tina. Talk to Gaige's dad, will you?"

There was a small 'clunk' as the Antonia set her phone down. After another moment, a deeper voice spoke.

"Hello? This is Michael. Gaige? Tina? You two still there?"

Gaige beamed brightly.

"Hey, daddy."

Michael sighed in relief.

"Hey, honey. So, I'm getting a new daughter?"

Gaige laughed.

"I think so."

Tina was also looking a lot happier with the way the conversation was going. Michael continued, this time speaking to Tina.

"So, Tina. I hear you're good with explosives."

At this Tina perked up a bit.

"You bet I am. I'm the best damn pyrotech on Pandora!"

At this, Michael laughed a deep rumbling laugh.

"We'll see about that, I'm pretty confident in my own skills."

Emboldened by his light-hearted attitude, Tina shot back.

"Bring it on!"

After a couple seconds, Michael had finished laughing.

"Oh, man. I can't wait to meet you in person. Gaige, take care of yourself, okay?"

Gaige smiled.

"Okay, daddy."

Her father's voice grew distant for a moment as he appeared to move away from the phone.

"Ugh. Sorry, I gotta go. Tusya came back in and it looks like he wants to talk to me about something or other. See you girls later!"

The two girls chorused.

"Bye!"

Tina, now much happier than she had been at the start of the day, flung her arms around Gaige.

"Thanks, Gaige."

Gaige hugged her new sister warmly.

"I knew they'd be okay with it."

Finally, Tina pulled back.

"Don't you go dying on me now."

Gaige smirked.

"I won't."

Tina took a step back, towards Karima, who had been patiently waiting for their conversation to end.

"I'll hold you to that."

Gaige grinned. She, Angel and Zer0 all said goodbye to Karima before heading off. Angel turned to Gaige.

"That was a wonderful idea."

The mechromancer smiled, looking proud of herself.

"Yup."

Zer0 added his two cents.

"You gave her new hope, / Helped her when she was alone. / She will heal in time."

Gaige nodded, feeling happier than she had been in a long time.

"Let's go kick Jack's sorry ass. I've got a sister waiting for me."

Angel contacted the others and found that they had cleared the way to the Arid Nexus and were ready to head off to the Hyperion Info Stockade as soon as they all got some sleep. Zer0 nodded in agreement, already heading over to the Fast Travel station of Overlook.

"My body grows dull, / I have been up for too long. / I could use the rest."

With that, he vanished. Gaige made a face at where he was last standing.

"Does he always talk like that? It's kinda weird."

Angel rolled her eyes.

"Someimes."

…

Axton was sore and exhausted. The shockwave from the impacting lunar supply drop hadn't helped in the slightest. But he had a thought that simply would not leave him alone. Failing to keep a mischievous grin off his face, he gestured for Salvador, who walked over wearily.

"What?"

The soldier merely motioned for the gunzerker to follow. The two crept up the stairs of their house in Sanctuary. Quietly, they snuck into one of the rooms. To be specific, Zer0's room. Looking around, they noted that it was about what they expected. Extremely minimalistic, he only had a couple rifles leaning against the wall. On the bed lay a discarded tracking suit and helmet. Axton had noticed that the helmeted assassin seemed more tired and less aware of his surroundings after he had come back from Overlook. He barely nodded when Axton greeting him. The faint sounds of water could be heard from behind the door to the bathroom. By this point, Salvador had caught on to the prank and was grinning as well. They both knew the assassin didn't like being seen, but that hadn't stopped any of the Vault Hunters, including Maya, from wondering what he kept under that mask. Carefully, they grabbed the suit and helmet before creeping out again. Even if for some bizarre reason he chose to ignore his missing helmet, Zer0 would eventually need his clothes back… right? The two grown men sneaked off towards Axton's room to stash their loot safely.

"What are you two doing!"

A harsh voice hissed out behind the two, causing them to freeze and turn slowly. An annoyed Angel stood at the top of the stairs, glaring at the duo. She stepped forward towards the two men, who were looking more like children caught stealing from a cookie jar than professional Vault Hunters.

"It was his idea."

Salvador blurted out, causing Axton to scowl at him. Ignoring their excuses, she held out a hand.

"Give me those."

Axton whined slightly.

"But don't you want to know what's under the mask?"

Angel turned her stare onto the soldier, who shrank a bit more under her glare.

"His secrets are his to keep. He'll tell you if he chooses to."

Axton seemed ready to protest again, but Angel crackled a bit of energy around her hand, mimicking what she had seen Maya do two days ago. This caused the soldier to immediately hand over the suit and helmet. She waved a hand at the two.

"Run along now."

They scampered. A moment later, the door to Zer0's room slid open partially, revealing Zer0 standing in nothing but a pair of black boxer shorts. Angel felt her face heat up before she pushed the clothing towards the white-haired man, who was looking at her with an amused look on his face. She snapped at him.

"Don't give me that look. I saved you a lot of explaining."

The assassin smiled slightly at this.

"Thank you."

Angel shrugged.

"I did promise to keep your secret."

Zer0 nodded.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted."

The door shut. Smiling and humming lightly to herself, Angel wandered off to find Gaige.

…

A/N: Credit goes to Creatures Lying for that blurb at the end. After reading his oneshot, I really wanted to include something similar in this story, with his permission of course. (If you're reading this, THANKS!) Can anyone guess who the spy in Hyperion is? Or is he another red herring like that stalker from a couple chapters ago? Or am I just doing this in the A/N to screw with your head? I'll answer it all eventually (probably).

See you next week!


	10. Disconnecting

A/N: Buh. Wanna get my only final out of the way and get back to presentations and writing.

Note: Changed a name in Chapter 2… no one mentioned I used the wrong first name for a character… I guess no one aside from my odd and somewhat neurotic situational memory noticed.

Note 2: If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to move things along without leaving out anything I wanted to cover. Please let me know if you start finding the pacing weird or unbearable.

Note 3: I'll be using an old scene in this chapter from the prologue. Since I wrote that bit without reference, I'll stick with the lines I wrote, rather than the in-game lines verbatim.

**End of Semester Note: I'm gonna spend most of this week reviewing and studying and probably won't write too much of the next chapter. I would also like a bit more time to gather my notes in planning the rest of the story. As such, there will be a one week break again. Thank you for your patience.**

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 9 – Disconnecting

Axton awoke rested and ready to tackle the rest of the information gathering mission. The four vault hunters were unsurprisingly tired and decided to take the remainder of the previous day to relax instead of heading off to the Arid Nexus right away. This left Angel and the new girl, who had both gotten plenty of sleep the night before, free to explore Sanctuary. Interested in learning more about the young engineer, Angel followed her around as she spoke to the residents and caught up with recent events. They were both awake by the time Axton came downstairs, stretching as his body woke up. Now that he had slept, the soldier was able to get a good look at the newcomer. She had fiery red hair and looked about fifteen.

"Hey kid. How's it going?"

The girl looked up from where she was working on her prosthetic left arm.

"Not bad, this place is pretty nice considering all the other places on Pandora."

She paused staring at him questioningly.

"I don't think I caught your name."

Axton smiled, shrugging.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that, we were all pretty tired yesterday. Name's Axton, the blue-haired girl is Maya, and the midget is Salvador."

A rough voice sounded behind him.

"Who you callin' midget, puta?"

Axton turned, grinning.

"There he is!"

This earned the soldier a punch in the gut as Salvador wandered out of the house.

"Oof. Ornery son of a bitch, that guy. Anyway, you are?"

The girl held up her free hand, the human one.

"Gaige, engineer extraordinaire."

Axton smirked.

"Man, how old are you anyway? Vault Hunters just get smaller and smaller, huh?"

Gaige glared icily at the man, closing the panel on her prosthetic with a decisive snap. A moment later, the unfortunate soldier found himself face to face with a pissed off robot. The hovering metal beast growled and the man took a hesitant step back.

"Er… right. You're right. This is pretty badass. Please don't kill me."

With a triumphant smirk, the mechromancer deconstructed her robot.

"So, soldier boy. What are we up to now? I got the general gist of things from the townspeople yesterday."

Axton shrugged, checking his pack and making sure he had supplies for their journey.

"We break into the Hyperion Info Stockade and find out where Jack and the Warrior is. How hard could it be?

…

The man with the false face strode calmly across an ancient summoning altar. Stone guardians stood some fifty meters high, ever vigilant. Taking a handkerchief, he wiped his brow, which had accumulated a bit of perspiration from the nearby lava flow. Just a few meters away, a purple pulse of energy crackled and hissed as the injectors artificially imbedded in the ancient rock pushed the Eridium flow past complete saturation. This concentrated energy was pushed through both a conical stone object and a hovering woman with curving symbols burning as bright as the lava. Turning around, the man stared at a metal control console.

The metal structure stood out against the aged background, but the man neither noticed nor cared. He pressed a couple buttons and typed in a brief line of programming. This would alter the flow rate a bit to adjust for the woman's constant struggling. What those uneducated bandits never knew was that to manually charge the key, you needed a high density, high energy material like Eridium and a reaction catalyst, like the Siren he had captured. He learned through years of experimentation with his daughter that orienting the energy source and the catalyst opposite to each other worked best.

The Key was like a highly resistant sponge, naturally taking in energy over a course of two hundred years. By putting the Key in between the two required elements, the Key would draw energy from both the Eridium and the Siren. This allowed for the Siren's essence to be pulled into the Key, which would in turn purify the Eridium already being drawn into the Key, speeding up the entire process by around one hundred ninety years. Truly a magnificent discovery. His adjustments would maintain the ratio of Eridium running between the three components of this system, no matter how the Siren struggled.

In fact, he preferred her struggling as her overflowing emotions pushed her own energy output to the limit was speeding up the process even more, even if it was only by a couple hours at best. So he had entertained himself as he waited by torturing the energy-saturated Siren, both mentally and physically. He had quickly learned that any injury healed with amazing speed due to the pure energy coursing through her body. That and the fact that she apparently had some kind of unrequited love for the dead commander of the Crimson Raiders only made it easier to torment the woman. The man smirked up at the Siren struggling a couple meters in the air, bound by the Eridium pulse. His voice drawled out, loud enough for her to hear.

"Your little murder buddies are scrambling around. It's so pathetic, really. But I love the look on their faces when they find out everything they do is in vain."

Golden irises burned as they trained on the man below. Even in the dim light provided by the lava, her eyes shone with hate and malice.

"Go to hell, Jack. You're gonna pay for Roland."

This only made his grin widen.

"Oh I doubt that. See here's what's gonna happen. If your buddies manage to somehow get here, the Warrior will tear them apart. And if not, well, the same thing really. So you see, you bandit scum are screwed. And it will all be thanks to you."

Humming a cheerful tune, he busied himself with programming. Even as he waited for the Key to charge, there was always stuff to do, things to build. The Siren threw herself against the bonds.

"You're sick! You put your own daughter through this! You're the scum that deserves to die!"

Handsome Jack froze, back turned to her and unresponsive. He suddenly whirled, one arm lashing out. The Siren coughed harshly as a knife was embedded in her chest, just off center of her heart. The pain was maddening, each second lasting an eternity. Then it was gone as the knife was disintegrated from the Eridium flow and her wounds healed. Jack drew his pistol and began firing round after round into her body all the while spitting venom at his captive.

"YOU are a bandit! YOU are a goddamn murderer! You have NO RIGHT to accuse ME of anything when you've killed so many! I'm changing this planet from a filthy pisshole into a PARADISE! You on the other hand go around killing people for sport! You uneducated scumbags are destroying this planet and YOU HAVEN'T EVEN GOT A CLUE!"

The pistol clicked empty as the gunshots rang in the ancient chamber. Blood ran freely from multiple wounds and the Siren had long squeezed her eyes shut in pain. Jack was breathing heavily, eyes dancing wildly. The only sounds that could be heard were the flow of the lava and the low hum of the Key charging.

"You're all greedy, selfish monsters who lost your right to say anything long ago. It was your own selfishness that killed that idiot soldier and all those people. Never forget that!"

He threw the emptied pistol at her and stormed off. After half an hour, it was clear the man was not returning. The Siren bowed her head and wept angrily at her own helplessness. Suddenly, someone spoke up from just behind her.

"Doing alright up there?"

The person's voice was smooth and controlled. Though Lilith couldn't see the person from her position, she remembered the voice from her past adventures with the other Vault Hunters. He had been coming around daily, allowing her to contact the other Vault Hunters to warn them. Sniffing hard and fighting back her emotions, she tried to calm herself but felt anger rise inside anyway.

"You again. What do you want? What are you even getting from all this?"

A mirthless chuckle.

"Nothing much. Just checking in on you. You're not my primary concern, but I thought your allies might be a bit interested in your wellbeing. Plus, I can only do this when Jack's not looking anyway, so it's not like I keep coming down here."

Lilith scoffed.

"You've been down here every day. Why should I believe you?"

There was a light hum from behind her.

"You shouldn't. But that's the kind of person I am. Suffice to say this is within my employers' requests anyway."

There was a pause as the person behind her waited for a response. When there was none, he prompted again.

"Well? We don't have all day you know. Jack's sleep schedules are getting a bit unpredictable, so this is really all the time we can afford."

Lilith remained quiet for a moment longer, considering the man's offer.

"Do it."

The smooth voice sounded again, teasingly.

"Do what?"

Biting back a grown, the Siren spoke again.

"Connect me to my friends. Not much I can do from this position anyway…"

The unseen man chuckled before walking over to control panel and starting a couple hacking programs. Time was limited so he worked fast. The more information the Vault Hunters got, the better.

…

"What kind of IDIOT crossbreeds a skag with a rakk!"

Angel and the five Vault Hunters were travelling through the Arid Nexus trying to disrupt the Eridium pipelines enough that they could use the empty pipes to get service access the other side of the mountain range where the Hyperion Info Stockade was situated. This, of course, only happened after Salvador decided it would be fun to jump a nearby ramp, crashing his vehicle into the pipeline, denting the industrial-grade steel piping and completely destroying the service ladder. While skeptical, it seemed to be the only idea Mordecai had short of physically scaling the rock walls surrounding this part of the Arid Nexus. Seeing how there were three pumping stations to hit and now six travelers, they split up into three groups, with two pairs driving off to pumps one and two and the remaining pair walking to pump three which was closer to Fast Travel station.

It was through this arrangement that Angel and Gaige found themselves swerving across the sands, trying to take down the flying skrakks while Hyperion loaders tried to destroy their runner. Angel was manning the turret using her powers to fine-tune her aiming. Gaige was proving to be rather reckless driver as the vehicle slammed into yet another loader. Letting out a shout of annoyance, the young engineer summoned her robot for the second time in their harrowing battle.

"Go get 'em, boy!"

The robot was thankfully ridiculously accurate when it came to shooting down the flying beasts. Gaige shouted over the noise of combat that she had programmed him to predict movement at long range on top of his standard auto-tracking mechanisms. Needless to say, with the robot helping out, the flying nuisances were finally all dispatched and it became a routine matter of taking out the rest of the loaders. The mechromancer ran over one last Hyperion soldier with a satisfied grin and brought the vehicle to a stop just outside the entrance to Pump Two.

"Welp, let's get this over with."

Descending the service elevator, they reached a short tunnel system that led to the pump controls. While there were a couple nuisances along the way, it was fairly uneventful and the two pushed through with relative ease. They caught sight of the pump controls as Angel's ECHO communicator rang and an accented voice came through.

"¡Oye, niña! ¿Qué estás haciendo? We're waiting on you!"

Gaige rolled her eyes.

"Geez, impatient much?"

Angel answered the call.

"We ran into a bit of a problem near the pump, we're shutting down pump two now."

With that, the two girls locked the pump valves. The machinery let out a loud whine and several unnatural clunks. The nearby machinery shuddered so much they had actually moved a couple millimeters. Gaige glance over at Angel, eyes wide, and the two quickly got out for fear of an explosion. As they reached the surface, both of their ECHO recorders sounded. They looked down to see the purportedly dead Roland contacting them en masse.

"Hey buddy! It's me, Roland! Let's kill Handsome Jack and then we'll ALL go out for milkshakes!"

Pausing on the elevator platform, the two girls stared incredulously at their communicators. The speaker sounded like he was either mentally ill or had a mouth full of food, both were rather disturbing thoughts. They continued staring at their communicators, wondering if there would be more. There was. The display showed Handsome Jack this time, who sounded amused and rather pleased with himself.

"Nah, I'm just playing. He's really still dead. Grabbed his ECHO unit when I left."

With that he hung up. Gaige had a curious look on her face, as if she was unsure whether to laugh or scoff. Angel stared somewhat sadly at the screen, surprised at her own indifference for how far her father had stooped to do such a thing. Finally, Gaige turned and spoke hesitantly.

"Was… was that supposed to be funny?"

Angel grimaced slightly. Gaige continued.

"Cuz it wasn't…"

The Siren shook her head.

"Never mind. Let's meet up with the others."

As they were about to get into their runner, a loud explosion roared across the landscape, causing the ground to visible shake and sending the two travelers to their knees. Gaige looked surprised and shaken.

"Wow… I guess they burst that pipe…"

Gaige's communicator sounded this time and she connected to Axton. He spoke in a somewhat hushed voice, as if he was afraid to be overheard.

"Hey, kiddo, I notice you and Angel are closer to Zer0 and Salvador… Mind joining up with them? Maya didn't take that message too well and she ran off ahead… we'll scout the area and I'll send you guys any requests we pick up in the next area."

Gaige frowned visibly but agreed. After that, she turned back to Angel with a questioning look on her face.

"That other Siren, Maya… she's a bit unstable, huh?"

The younger Siren looked unhappy about this statement and was silent for a moment.

"Yeah."

The mecromancer pushed.

"What happened?"

Angel considered this question, not knowing the answer herself. She eventually drew from her memory from researching the older Siren.

"I think she doesn't want to lose us, us Sirens I mean. She came here to learn about her heritage and powers. From what Axton told me, she took Lilith's capture and my death rather harshly. I think, for her, Jack's taunting is opening up old wounds."

Gaige looked troubled at this.

"Will she be alright?"

Angel's face remained neutral.

"I think so. Axton might not be too tactful, but he's pretty perceptive when it comes to Maya."

Gaige nodded and started the engine of the runner.

"Fine. Let's go, we gotta meet up with the other two."

…

Once again, Axton found himself chasing after a Siren that was carving a trail of bodies through the place formerly known as Fyrestone. She stopped in the middle of the town, staring at the bounty board with some interest. He ran up to her, hoping she hadn't injured herself like last time.

"Hey… you okay?"

Maya looked at him with a bit of amusement in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry yourself so much. You'll go bald."

Axton frowned and scratched his head slightly.

"Oh… I thought you had gone off again… wanna talk about it?"

Maya gestured at the board.

"It's not that interesting. Let's get this job done, we might be able to get something useful about Jack."

Axton glanced over Mordecai's request and nodded.

"Sounds good."

The two tore off through Fyrestone, destroying several broken loaders in the process. It seemed that, in addition to containing the Info Stockade, Jack had tried his hardest to defile this quaint little town, one that many Vault Hunters in the past had traveled through at one point or another. It was unsurprising that the madman had filled this iconic location with as much trash and broken components as possible while the Info Stockade jutted out like a sore thumb. As they fought, Maya revealed bits and pieces of her past, most notably of her earlier teachings.

"We were always taught to respect the dead. Even if most of the monks turned out to be complete dicks in the end, they got that bit right. It's… wrong to defile the dead like that."

Axton nodded as the Siren fired at a couple skags that had wandered too close. While he might've liked the glory of his various campaigns, the fallen was always shown some form of respect or simply ignored if they were the enemy, never mocked. They pushed their way towards the closest marker on their map and picked up a small ECHO recorder. Maya glanced hesitantly at her partner before pushing play. The recording was a bit hard to hear due to a large amount of static. It sounded as if someone had placed a microphone in his or her pocket and was using it to spy on someone. However, the voices heard were unmistakable.

"Look, it's just like your own little castle! You'll be like a princess! You'll have everything you want! Go on in."

Though the voice was younger, it was definitely Handsome Jack's voice. After all, Mordecai had mentioned this request was to find out more information on the Hyperion dictator.

"I don't wanna! Where's mommy?"

Maya's face took on a contemplative look. Her brow furrowed as she concentrated on the young voice coming out of the speakers. Axton stood nearby, looking similarly intrigued. Jack was speaking again.

"M…mommy's gone far away, pumpkin. Now get in the chamber*!" (*Chair in-game)

There was a sound of a small scuffle. The two Vault Hunters heard brief hints of the current Jack's insanity in the recording's voice. Over the struggle, the girl's voice sounded again.

"No! Let me go!"

The girl sounded completely terrified, but the madman didn't let up. Jack's voice sounded again, strained.

"Just get... there we go… into the damn chamber."

There was a slamming noise. Axton and Maya had gone completely silent and they could hear faint sounds of crying in the recording. Finally, the recording cut off. Axton and Maya stared at the recorder for a long while. The Siren looked furious. Finding his mouth very dry, the soldier swallowed hard before speaking up.

"Was that…"

Maya stormed off, heading towards the next marker. Axton gave a sad sigh before running off after her.

…

Salvador was sorely regretting following Zer0 and the two girls rather than going with Axton and Maya. The four travelers crouched behind a dilapidated building at the edge of Fyrestone. Explosion after explosion shook the tiny shack and it was a miracle that the thin metal hadn't buckled yet. Gaige was yelling over the noise.

"No one mentioned he had a giant robot guarding this place!"

Angel shouted back.

"This must be new! Saturn was still in design a week ago!"

Another barrage of explosions caused them to duck as part of the roof was finally blown off. The scrap metal whirled through the air like deadly boomerangs, one of which struck a nearby skag, killing the thing on impact.

"What do we do!"

Salvador shouted at the other three over the din. Zer0 stepped out of cover, firing rapidly with a corrosive Maliwan sniper rifle. He quickly ducked back as a stream of missiles tore apart the ground nearby. The assassin turned to the gunzerker and shrugged blankly. This only served to annoy the diminutive man. Growling in annoyance, he rummaged around in his pack, bringing out two rocket launchers. The other three eyed him carefully, scooting back as he hoisted the two massive weapons. Letting out a battle cry, he rounded the corner, firing the two weapons as fast as he could.

"¡VAMANOS, PUTA!"

The other three could only watch in awe as Salvador's own rain of rockets weaved crazily through the various drones Saturn was using, slamming into the monstrous hunk of metal.

…

Axton and Maya finally joined up with the group after running around the Arid Nexus – Badlands for the better part of the afternoon. The other four Vault Hunters had arrived dirty, disheveled, and generally unhappy. It seemed that after they got the data for the Warrior, Jack had blocked off all exits from the tall building with constructors. In such a tiny fighting space, the group getting the location barely managed to get away. Gaige gave a certain soldier a dry stare, enjoying watching him squirm.

"So, Axton… what do you have to say for yourself?"

The man smiled sheepishly.

"Uh… sorry. I meant to come help after we finished the requests… Oh come on… I even got you a nice assault rifle from the skags."

The young engineer did not look impressed and simply brushed aside the mention of her new weapon.

"While you were off with your girlfriend, we were fighting for our lives to get that stupid location…"

Axton looked highly uncomfortable.

"She's not… we're not…"

Salvador chose this point to pipe up as well.

"Bros before hoes, cabrón…"

The soldier protested at this.

"Hey! Not cool, man…"

Angel tried to redirect the conversation.

"Anyway, let's get moving. We should rest up while we can. From what Lilith said earlier, we still have a bit of time. We might be able to stop this if you time the attack right."

Zer0 and Gaige nodded in agreement. Axton looked relieved to have been let off the hook. The group made its way over to the Fast Travel station near the entrance to the Badlands. As they approached the system, there was a loud screech from their ECHO communicators, causing everyone to wince and grab their heads in pain. Finally, the same voice came through their speakers.

"Found me, have you? Congratulations. No seriously, well done."

There was a slow clapping. Then Jack spoke again, this time in a darker voice.

"All bets are off, murderers. No more chances. My Warrior is going to kill every last one of you. No more cheating. Those damn New-U stations? I'm destroying them. I implemented them on Pandora, I sure as hell can remove it."

Jack let out a mirthless laugh.

"I wanted you freaks to suffer. You needed to die, screaming, over and over until the end of time. But I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with one death. One glorious death at the hands of my Warrior."

There was a short pause before the man continued.

"I'm looking forward to it."

The line went dead. Seconds later, there was a loud crackling from the nearby Fast Travel station. The Vault Hunters rushed over to find the machine emitting smoke. Angel reached out and touched the warm metal. The Fast Travel menu appeared, but when she typed in a couple override commands, a soft female voice floated out from the overhead speaker.

"The trial version of the New-U Station for Pandora has expired. Your user experience will be used to help improve this system for future users. Thank you for helping us help you help us all."

Her eyes widened with worry as she turned to the gathered group.

"He deactivated all reconstruction processes on Pandora."

The Vault Hunters stood in silence. The war that had been barely manageable when they took full advantage of the New-U stations was now quickly becoming unwinnable.

They were mortal again.

…

A/N: I keep spelling travelers with two Ls… it's surprising that it seems to be built into my muscle memory. It's also incredibly annoying.

Anyway. Like I said, I'm gonna take next week's update off in order to study and prepare for ending my current lab rotation.

See you in two weeks.


	11. Reflecting

A/N: Thanks for the wait! I definitely needed that week of studying. I am officially on whatever winter break I get before dragging my ass off to a new lab!

Note 1: I'm going to try something writing-wise here… hopefully it'll make it a bit more interesting to read.

Note 2: Bleh. According to Steam I haven't played Borderlands since November 13.

Note 3: Congratulations. You survived the end of the world.

Note 4: So last week Vect the Atoner mentioned I had used the word inactivate rather than deactivate… All I can say is: too much cancer biology studying. I tend to use the word inactivate when referring to pathways and genes, whereas deactivate is more appropriate for technology. Now you know. (Hell yeah, I aced the course.)

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 10 – Reflecting

"This is war. Death is not an option."

Axton spoke this line calmly and quietly, trying to convey to his friends the gravity of the situation they now found themselves in. No further words were spoken as no one felt the desire to question his statement. They quietly returned to Sanctuary, each person heading their own way to deal with the unexpected destruction of their only lifeline. He could empathize with his friends. Most of them had gotten accustomed to fighting with the presence of the New-U stations as a safeguard. But for him, it was simply another factor in this war against Hyperion.

How many times had he heard that line before?

It was nothing new. The line had been used to the point that it became an implicit order when he was with the Dahl military. Having just picked up weapons manufacturing, each soldier had been highly valued by the then expanding mining corporation. It had been hard times and good men were increasingly hard to find seeing as a large majority of available soldiers had rushed off to Atlas at the smallest incentive. Many wanted the fame in association while many more wanted to try the weapons created with alien tech first hand. For Axton and his ex-wife, they remained with Dahl out of nostalgia more than anything, staying with the company they were most familiar with. Through their own luck and persistence, Dahl eventually managed to become a competitor on the warfront as well. In those conditions, Axton's small team had been one of the strongest and most reliable in the battalion rivaled only by the squad led by his ex-wife and commanding officer. At this thought, the soldier paused, grinning ruefully at the memory.

"Dammit, Sarah… What do I do now…?"

He ran a thumb over his old wedding ring absentmindedly. His squad was always the black sheep of the family, so to speak. While Sarah's soldiers were rigid and precise, his own team was whimsical and relaxed. Sure, they did their jobs and performed each mission to the letter, but that didn't stop them from trying to enjoy it as well. There was an unspoken competition between Axton and his men for who could come up with the most amusing and badass way to carry out a mission. Much of it tended to revolve around loopholes in the mission briefing and almost all of it was heavily criticized and disliked by the higher-ups. It was precisely that kind of behavior that led the higher-ups to single him out, blaming the actions of the team on his own actions. They claimed he led them into following his behaviors. His teammates got suspensions while he was sentenced to death for endangering both his men and the Dahl corporation's security. It was not an easy decision for them to make, he was assured. But it was his latest mission that had pushed them past the brink. The soldier sighed wearily.

'They didn't even let me explain… though I doubt it would've changed anything. They were gunning for me for quite some time already.'

Axton and his team was sent to Hestias in order to meet a dignitary that was providing information to Dahl with the planet's trade information. The only problem was that Hyperion, still under the control of the former president at the time, caught wind of this and wanted the information for themselves. All in all, it was supposed to be a fairly straightforward mission: find the dignitary and eliminate any enemy threats. That was until Axton had stumbled across the dignitary's personal sex/torture room while looking for a bathroom in his overly-luxurious manor. The things he saw in there made his blood run cold. The bastard had clearly been using his pull in the small planet's intergalactic trade to do whatever he damn well pleased. After freeing and sheltering an abused and traumatized girl – she must have been no older than thirteen for God's sake – Axton ordered a side investigation. For five trained military personnel, it was a simple task to shadow the dignitary to confirm that he was indeed using the room on a regular basis, resulting in yet another rescue when the dignitary found his old 'plaything' missing and immediately went about acquiring another one. His boys wholeheartedly supported the plan and, for a nice bribe from Hyperion, they delivered the dignitary to one of Hyperion's local militia, complete with every explosive that they had brought for emergency purposes.

Axton laughed at the memory of the disgusting son of a bitch; he had kicked and screamed the entire way. A bonus came in the form of their original briefing, which specifically stated that they were to prevent the dignitary from providing the enemy with intel and to eliminate any opposition to the first objective. So, essentially, they didn't do anything wrong. Though he regretted nothing that he did that day, it was a bit unnerving to see Dahl come down so hard on him for what he did. After the higher-ups passed judgment, Sarah told him to leave, her one last act of kindness to a man that she no longer loved. And he was surprisingly okay with it, for their relationship had slowly drifted apart due to the nature of their occupation. His escape brought him to Pandora, which led to this entire mess. And now? He was once again in a position where he could lose his life with the smallest mistake.

"Death is not an option."

He spoke aloud, as if trying to convince himself of his situation. The words gave him some comfort while reminding him of his past. If he was so familiar with these words, why did it feel so different now?

And it hit him, the uncomfortable truth. When he met the others on the train, they had all been standoffish to some extent, not really talking to any of the other Vault Hunters. No one on that train had, really. The majority of the ones he talked to were greedy and arrogant, wanting to find the Vault without any help from the ex-soldier. It was he who had eventually brought the four of them together, convincing the other three that the push for the Vault would be easier if they worked together. Throughout their travels, they always relied on him to make tactical decisions, to provide a more veteran view of the situation at hand. It was this same expectation that scared him now, more than the prospect of dying in the advent of the Warrior.

'I don't know if I can lead them through this…'

He closed his eyes and laid back on his bed with his arms behind his head, trying to plan for what they might encounter.

…

"This is war. Death is not an option."

The soldier's words echoed in the Siren's mind. It was a hard reality to accept, for though she had experienced death several times in the past, it was always under the safeguard of the New-U system. Maya had been surprised when Axton, of all people, had spoken those words with a solemnity she hadn't thought possible from the carefree ex-soldier. The others had picked up on this, too, and said nothing as the group reentered Sanctuary. The blue-haired Siren had watched as the soldier ascended the stairs and locked himself away in his room. She had caught a glimpse of his eyes before he left. He had seemed so old and worn-out; it left her wondering what could have made him this way. Leaning back on her own bed, she rubbed her face tiredly.

How had it all gone so terribly wrong?

She came here to learn about her heritage, not fight a war! If Maya had gained anything from her time with the Order of the Impending Storm, it was a healthy appreciation for history and archaeology. Especially considering she herself was somewhat of an enigma, the trainee Siren had devoured the entire Order library by age seventeen. The boasted 'greatest' library, while certainly extensive and spanned many fields of learning, had barely offered enough knowledge on Sirens to sate her desires. What she knew was only the little facts and tidbits she picked up through her training. She had then spent the better part of a decade gaining knowledge through the other monks, owing to the fact that though she couldn't leave Athenas, the other monks could and did on a regular basis. The more she learned about the different creatures and beings that existed throughout the various galaxies, the more she wanted to see them for herself. Everything changed when the Vault was opened. The first Vault opening had been broadcasted so extensively through the galaxies that, even though Jack ultimately took credit for everything, there was still plenty of information available on the four Vault Hunters involved. The moment Maya had discovered Dr. Tannis's files on the Siren Lilith, she began planning on sneaking away from the Order.

Her original intention was to find and speak with Dr. Tannis to learn more of her research and then also the Vault Hunter named Lilith to see what else she knew about Sirens. Her carefully planned escape all fell apart the morning Brother Sophis brought her to the Room of Judgment within the halls of the revered Monastery. It was that day she began to doubt her quest for knowledge. The look of sheer terror in the man's eyes as she approached, supposedly commencing his execution, shocked the twenty-seven year old Siren. For the first time, she wondered if being a Siren was as wonderful a gift as the monks made it out to be. The more she looked at the faces of the frightened masses, the more she realized they weren't afraid of the terrors outside of Athenas.

They were afraid of her.

That moment of realization was all she needed to strengthen her resolve to leave. She saw the monks for what they really were, opportunists, and executed the sinners as she had been trained. It was also the first time she killed anyone. Though the monks trained her to eventually take on the role of executioner, she never used her powers on actual people, just targets and inanimate objects. While she appeared calm as she tore through the Order of the Impending Storm, the event would take much longer to fade from her mind. Brother Harker, one of the few Order members she spared, approached her a few days after her rampage and gave her one last bit of advice.

"Maya. It is up to you to decide how you wield your power. I may not have agreed with a lot of Brother Sophis's actions, but he did get one thing right. Your power has the potential to bring entire civilizations to its knees, as you witnessed here on Athenas. But also know that Pandora follows none of the normal conventions. You may simply take a bullet to the head the moment you arrive and then all your training will be for naught. Take care of yourself."

Take care of yourself. Maya chuckled to herself. Brother Harker would have a apoplectic fit if he saw the situation she was in now. Granted, there was little choice after the destruction of the Order. She didn't have any other leads into the history of Sirens, not that she was feeling all that excited about learning their potentially bloody history anymore. She had no job and no money, the Order supported her using the tithes collected from the citizens. And she wasn't certified to be any kind of historian or archaeologist, blocking out her two best skills. But on the other hand, she refused to stay on Athenas, where the civilians that had apparently decided she was now their savior. Wherever she went, people wanted to thank her for freeing them from the Order's rule, or ask her for her blessing, or help them with some inane task or other.

Less than two days after ridding Athenas of the Order of the Impending Storm, Maya left without so much as a goodbye.

Idly, the Siren created a small orb of energy in the palm of her hand. She let herself become mesmerized by the shifting colors and wavering light. It was something she did when she was younger; something to calm her nerves and focus her mind. Less than half a year had passed since she left and now research on Sirens was the last thing on her mind.

"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam."

One of her favorite quotes from a book whose title she had long forgotten. I will either find a way or make one. It got her through many tasks the monks assigned. It helped her even more when she was trying to skip her lessons on the Order's teachings. But no matter what she did, she couldn't shake the feeling that the task at hand was insurmountable. So she continued watching the little orb dance away in her hands, feeling the meditative trance settling in.

Right now, she needed all the concentration she could get to figure out how she was going to get through this alive.

…

"This is war. Death is not an option."

The gunzerker sat in the Crimson Raiders Headquarters with his favorite drinking buddy, Mordecai. After returning to Sanctuary, Salvador informed the old sniper of what had happened out at the Hyperion Info Stockade. Since then, the two had polished off two bottles of spiderant tequila and another twelve bottles of rakk ale. Now, Mordecai was complaining loudly while Salvador nodded along.

"I'm gonna put a bullet in that Jackass! First he kills my Bloodwing, then Roland, and kidnaps my best friend? He's gonna wish he never step foot on this godforsaken rock!"

Panting slightly, Mordecai drank heavily, letting out a satisfied sigh as the cold liquid refreshed his parched throat.

"That son of a bitch thinks he can play God, huh! We'll show 'im. We'll take down him AND his pet Warrior!"

Salvador swayed slightly, adding his two cents.

"I bet the Warrior's some weak little thing. Why else would it be locked behind another Vault?"

Mordecai slammed his bottle down on the already damp table, causing his bottle of ale to overflow with foam.

"Right? The Warrior can't be that tough! We managed to take the Destroyer down and we didn't know what the hell we were doing or what we were up against!"

The old sniper nodded sagely.

"You lot are in a much better position. You know exactly what you're up against!"

The gunzerker paused a bit at this, squinting at his friend.

"Er… no, actually. What exactly are we up against?"

Mordecai choked on the ale he had brought to his lips.

"You didn't hear about the first Vault Opening?"

Salvador shrugged.

"Ovejas is small. They don't like bothering with the outside world. That Sheriff lady would've liked it there. They still do hangings and shit."

The sniper sighed, rubbing his face with a hand.

"Ugh… wow… how do I put this? It's not something I particularly like remembering ya know? Just think tentacles and disappointment."

Salvador snorted.

"Disappointment?"

Mordecai nodded sadly.

"We thought it was going to be full of exotic weapons… dunno why we even believed that. Everything we were told about the Vault was either in passing or from Atlas. Anyway, expect some giant alien thing. Tentacles or no."

Salvador chuckled at this.

"You got Atlas lyin' to ya, we got Hyperion."

They clinked bottles. Mordecai waved his bottle around a bit.

"Right you are. Gotta make the best of this situation. It's like that sayin' goes… When life gives you lemons…"

The gunzerker looked blankly at the man.

"…Throw them at people?"

The sniper paused, considering.

"Yeah, I don't know, that sounds about right though."

Mordecai took a long drink before continuing.

"You got that right. Hey how'd you end up in this mess anyway? The way you put it, you'd be hard pressed to even know about the Warrior unless it was right at your doorstep."

Salvador's expression hardened.

"They tried to take Ovejas. It's my home, I love the people, no matter what they think of me."

Mordecai looked intrigued by this, but the stout man clammed up after that so the sniper let the matter lie. The two drunks spent some time drinking in silence with nothing but the hum of machinery to listen to. Salvador tossed back the remainder of another bottle and leaned back in his chair.

"Axton seemed okay with the whole no-resurrection thing."

Mordecai frowned as he too finished off his drink and grabbed another.

"No surprise, brother. Roland was the same. If I were to guess, that Zer0 guy doesn't care too much either."

The gunzerker frowned, considering this for a moment before he gave up.

"Why's that?"

Mordecai laughed.

"They were soldiers man. They've seen things. It's practically their job, getting into life-or-death situations. Really, I'd be more surprised if you and that Maya chick were okay with it."

He paused to take a drink.

"How're ya holdin' up anyway?"

Salvador gave a deep sigh as he popped open another bottle.

"It's weird knowing that one wrong move and…" he gestured vaguely with a hand. "Adios."

Mordecai nodded sagely.

"I hear ya. It was weird for Lilith and me as well. Brick… well, Brick doesn't really think about that kind of stuff. He's very focused like that."

Salvador couldn't help but laugh.

"You? You spent our entire journey through Tundra Express picking off people we couldn't even see!"

The sniper smiled ruefully.

"Well, it's what I'm good at. I only came here cuz I was too good at shooting and people accused me of cheating in this competition. I've spent a good portion of the last twenty years living without the fear of death."

Mordecai drank while staring thoughtfully at the dwarf. He laughed lightly.

"You're luckier than the others you know?"

Confused, Salvador could think of no intelligent response.

"Huh?"

Mordecai gestured with his bottle.

"You're height. You're less likely to get shot at."

Salvador laughed at this. He already knew his height was an advantage, making him a smaller target to the bandits, but having the older man point this out was just as amusing. Mordecai smiled at the shorter man's amusement before speaking more earnestly.

"But, seriously, be careful out there. There were a couple times after we disengaged from the New-U system where we messed up pretty badly. Lilith got careless once and Phased into a group of enemies, she lost her shield and was hit pretty badly by a guy hiding behind cover. Things were touch and go for a while before we got her to a nearby Med Vendor."

He took a sip and cleared his throat.

"I've watched the way you fight. You've got an awesome skill and you know how to use it, but keep in mind, things are gonna hurt real bad if you don't watch out."

Salvador sighed sadly.

"Yeah. I know. No rushing into enemy groups anymore. It's just… boring, ya know? Fighting normally. There's no thrill. Sniper rifles aren't exactly the kind of thing you dual-wield."

Mordecai chuckled at the last bit.

"You should talk to Brick. It took us a while to convince him to take it easy as well. But anyway, it's pretty much this: die and you make the battle that much harder to win."

The gunzerker nodded glumly. Mordecai took it upon himself to lift the depressed gunslinger's spirits.

"Cheer up friend. After this shit's all done, let's go check out Mr. Torgue's arena. I hear he's holding a competition in a couple months. We'll be done with Hyperion within the week if we're lucky."

This didn't seem to move the short man, who had all but slumped over the table. The only indication that he was still awake was that he still took swigs of his ale. His voice came out in a muffled mumble.

"What if we don't win?"

Mordecai gave a confident laugh, though it sounded a bit hollow in his own ears.

"We'll win."

…

'This is war. Death is not an option.'

The thought amused her. A more obvious statement could not have been made.

'For I am a hunter. I am a shadow. I am Death.'

Claws clicked softly against a boulder jutting out of the landscape. It was a comforting sound, reminding her that her strongest weapons were always nearby. They glinted a steely silver in the midday sun. She stared out at the vastness before her, feeling confident in her abilities.

'Flawless and precise, my skills stand above all others. I am both a peerless and fearsome god to those that are weaker. In these green lands, no one is stronger than I. In these green lands, here, I am Queen.'

A low rumble came from deep within her chest. She growled in satisfaction, pleased at the world around her.

'My people have been at war with the thorny ones. They continue to spread across my beautiful plains like a plague. Disgusting things.'

She felt a light vibration through the rock beneath her paws. They were coming. They always came. She poised her body to attack. The moment that foul creature burst through the unblemished earth, she pounced. Snarling with rage, she dug her teeth and claws into her prey, relishing in its agony as it squealed and squirmed until it finally laid still.

'One less piece of filth in this world. Ooh… what's that smell?'

She hopped lightly off the corpse and padded slightly towards the nearby human habitation. Her advisors cautioned against going there. They had seen one of those falling fireball attacks just last week, but a quick look wouldn't hurt, would it? Following her nose, she headed north. It was a strange place indeed, for though it was unmistakably a human-occupied area, there wasn't a human to be seen, with the lone exception of a small female human sitting on a nearby ledge munching on some delicious-smelling food. Cautiously, she peeked her head around the corner, trying to get a closer look at the lone figure, curious to why only she was out and about. The human perked up, apparently hearing something.

'Damn that tail… it's almost not worth the additional weapon.'

Two pairs of eyes met. She froze, ready to run. The small human stood and wandered over.

"Why hello there, milady, would you like to partake in my meal? It is so dreadfully lonely in this place."

A tiny hand proffered a piece of whatever the human was eating. Tentatively, she took the food. Heavens above, she had never tasted anything so rich before. The flesh of her enemies was always bland and dry. Whatever the human was eating was rich and moist, slightly sweet too. The human giggled.

"Does milady enjoy crumpets as well? I must say, Miss Karima does make some excellent crumpets. I simply must ask her for the recipe."

She had no idea what the human was babbling about but didn't complain when another delicious morsel was placed in front of her. She tensed as she felt a small hand on her head but soon closed her eyes lazily as the hand began stroking in a comforting motion.

'Damn, this little human is good at this…'

The human suddenly stood.

"I appear to be out of crumpets. Let us go obtain some more."

The tiny human hopped off the ledge and wandered off towards a nearby structure. Interested, and also still hungry, she followed. As she approached the building, she saw a larger human inside almost as the human saw her. The human let out a short gasp. Her instincts were screaming at her. Run? Her pride wouldn't allow it. Fight? She could easily tear apart the two humans before her, but… oh, that scratching felt so good… and the food was delicious too. So she stood her ground as her tiny human, for the human was hers now, spoke to the larger human. She was, however, a bit confused when the small female's voice seemed to change in tone and inflection.

"We need more crumpets! Lady, those crumpets of yours are to DIE for! Can we have some more? Pretty please?"

Nervously, and a bit wearily it appeared, the larger human nodded and left the room, returning with another plate of those delicious smelling things. She followed her human back to the ledge and the two sat down. Her human passed her a morsel before biting into her own.

"Can I call you Antoinette? Like the queen but without the whole 'lost-my-head' thing, you know? Yes? Good."

She was going to have an interesting time with her little human.

…

A/N: Hm. These first couple perspectives became a bit longer than I expected, so I'll be splitting this little memories bit into two chapters. Action will come after that.

I'm aware that Tina has Enrique. She picks up Enrique in the future where this story is done. Yes.

**By the way**, did you know I have some awesome extra stories and parodies for this fic in a separate file? These extras, or Omakes, will be posted after the last chapter of this story. I just had to mention it here because I've been having a lot of fun writing random situations for our loveable Vault Hunters! (A lot of writer's block trying to move the story along.) It's kind of my reward to myself to post all the awesome cool extra stories once I finish the main story.

See you next week!


	12. Deliberating

A/N: Oops, more than half a day later than usual. In my defense, I do say that I'll update around Saturday/Sunday, not specifically Saturday at ungodly hours. Just a bit more exposition before we move to Hero's pass.

Note: To start, a quick section to cover the ending scene from last chapter, seems I might have been a bit too vague.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 11 – Deliberating

Karima paced the floor of her small house. She ran a hand through her short brown hair in frustration as she considered the two before her.

"Tina, we simply don't have room in here. My place is small enough as it is."

The small girl was barely fazed.

"Oh, that's okay. Antoinette can stay outside. She doesn't like it in here. Too small. Probably reminds her of a jail cell."

The older woman rubbed her face in an exasperated motion, trying to decide how to deter the small pre-teen without upsetting her, or angering the one next to her.

"It…"

Karima began to speak before being cut off.

"She."

Tina looked proud at her correction. Karima looked confused.

"How can you tell?"

The tiny girl shrugged her thin shoulders.

"I dunno."

Shaking her head, Karima continued.

"She could be dangerous. I've never heard of anyone coming close to one without being injured, much less take one in as a pet! How is she even following you around?"

Tina smiled brightly.

"She has a fine taste in crumpets."

Karima tried again, slowly losing will to argue.

"But… she could be dangerous…?"

Tina made a light 'pfft' as she scoffed.

"Come on… what's life without a bit of danger? Besides, pets are awesome!"

Karima nodded wearily.

"Pets are great and all… but a stalker?!"

Tina smiled brightly.

"Only a little one."

…

Gaige paced around Scooter's garage, trying to decide what she should do next. On the one hand, she had no obligations to help the Vault Hunters. It would be a simple matter of grabbing her new sister and hopping onto the next flight off Pandora and that would be it. It would minimize the risk of dying, something she had already been careful about avoiding. The only foreseeable problem would be if Jack actually cared enough to halt all flights off Pandora. But so far he hadn't, likely either under the assumption that bandits were too poor to afford flights, or they were too stupid to realize their impending doom. On the other hand, Gaige Alexa Tolstoi was hardly one for abandoning a fight. She liked her new friends, even if Zer0 constantly drove her insane with his cryptically annoying speaking pattern, Salvador was a bit more insane than she was used to, Axton was a total flirt, and Maya seemed to constantly hover between friendly and murderous. They were like the crazy relatives your family never talked about, but always showed up at family reunions to liven up the party. Something in her refused to let her abandon her teammates and simply let Jack do what he wanted.

She could still remember New Haven.

"_Come on! We can finally leave this hellhole!"_

_The stern looking lady that ran New Haven managed to commandeer a train from Hyperion. In a way, she reminded Gaige of her father, taking command of a seemingly hopeless situation with an air of control and finesse. Despite the rudimentary structure of New Haven, she somehow kept all the vagrants and refugees together, creating a community where everyone was at least somewhat comfortable with their lives. It was that nostalgic feeling that compelled her to stay in New Haven rather than wander off after the Vault like all the other 'brave adventurers.' But she chose to come to Pandora alone in part to prevent her parent from getting involved with something she herself was responsible for. The Vault was a nice pastime to go for only if it didn't interfere with her own interests. She had one goal and one goal only: stay alive so that she could see her parents again one day._

_Word spread through the town like wildfire, sparking hope in every resident. They knew Jack was marching through Pandora. They knew few ever survived the purges. They knew it was only a matter of time. The train gave them a way to escape the doomed town and seek shelter in the shielded city of Sanctuary. With every town that was razed, their chances of coming out of the impending war alive decreased. The residents of New Haven had very little options to begin with, and with the way Jack was tearing up Pandora, fleeing by train became their only option._

"_Come on, kiddo! You might get to live a little longer this way."_

_Her neighbors called out into her makeshift workshop as they ran past carrying their meager belongings. The young engineer scrambled around her shop packing everything she thought she might need to upgrade Deathtrap in the future. Pandora was a desolate planet and good technologies were often hard to come by. More than once did she come up with a potentially brilliant upgrade only to find that the parts she required were nowhere to be found. Her dedication was her greatest vice, for if she couldn't get results one way, she would set off to get the same results using things she had access to, even if it would take a lot longer to implement._

_That dedication would end up saving her life._

_As she gathered the last of her things, there was a loud explosion followed by blood-curling screams coming from the direction of the hijacked train. Gaige rushed onto the scene to find a massive cyborg ripping through the townspeople. It was the first time she saw the man known as Handsome Jack. He stood there in the middle of the chaos, calm as can be, smartly dressed with a smoking pistol in his hand. Even from her hiding place, she could see a light splatter of blood on his visage, which gave no testament to the handsome man he proclaimed to be. His face was twisted in a satisfied smile as he watched innocent people executed without any mercy. At his feet lay the still body of a woman, stately even in her death despite her disfigurements. The pool of blood around her head was the only indication of her death._

_For a moment, her resolve broke. She wanted to fight the soldiers, to save those residents she had become so familiar with in the last month. But she knew she was horribly outnumbered. Even if the giant cyborg wasn't there, she would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of soldiers. There was only so much she and Deathtrap could do, and fighting an entire army alone was not one of them. She knew Hyperion controlled the New-U system. Having not become a Vault Hunter, her chances of being reconstructed were slim to none, regardless of her ability to pay the fees. So when the soldiers Jack brought began to torch the city, Gaige could do nothing more than run._

_She never did learn the name of that stern leader who reminded her of her father._

Gaige sniffled lightly rubbed her eyes as they misted over at the memory, bothered that the old memory still evoked such strong emotions. But the problem remained, she was still undecided. She wandered over to the mechanic who was busy tinkering away under his Runner vehicle. She nudged the man with a shoe.

"What do you think of all this? The war? Jack?"

The man rolled out, splotches of grease staining his trucker's hat, a perplexed look on his face.

"Girl, if Jack's gonna kill us all with that Warrior thingy, there's not a whole lot I can do about it. Way I sees it, I'm already doin' my part by helpin' you guys."

Gaige looked a bit surprised. It was a more reasonable response than she had expected. Honestly, she thought he was going to make some random crack at Jack which would then lead to some awkward joke about how he was in love with some relative or other, followed by an uncomfortable silence. She leaned on one leg, prosthetic on her hip.

'Something new every day, huh?'

Finally, she nodded.

"Thanks. I'm gonna make a call, I'll be back in a bit."

Scooter shrugged and called out after her.

"Hey, you still up fer showin' me yer robot's floating mechanism thing right? I figure I could get them onto a vehicle for the Catch-a-Ride system… maybe a boat or somethin'?"

Gaige waved a hand distractedly and wandered outside. Taking out her ECHO communicator, she connected to her mother's phone. It rang for almost a full minute before turning over to voice mail.

"Hi! You've reached Alexa. If you're hiring me to build you something, call my work phone. If you don't know my work phone, then I have no interest in working for you. If this is personal, leave a message after the beep."

The mechromancer frowned as she hung up before the machine could start recording a message. She had called her parents a couple days ago. What had changed? Feeling a bit worried, Gaige tried her father. As the ringing dragged on, the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach grew. Just as she was starting to feel panicky, the call was answered.

"Hello?"

Gaige sighed in relief.

"Daddy?"

The rich baritone of Michael Tolstoi replied from the speakers.

"Gaige? What do you need, sweetheart? Your mother and I are a bit busy right now."

The young girl sighed in relief.

"You're both okay? I called, but she didn't pick up."

Michael sounded a bit distracted.

"Hmm? Yeah, she's a bit busy."

Gaige started to ask a question but stopped as the unmistakable crack of a gunshot interrupted her thoughts. This was followed by the sound of a machine gun firing. Then, there was silence. The red-haired girl was wrought with worry.

"Dad? Daddy! Are you alright?"

To her relief, Michael responded, a bit less distractedly this time.

"Sorry, honey. Gotta keep watch. Like I said, your mother's preoccupied."

Gaige looked confused.

"Doing what?"

There was the click of a rifle bolt and the crystalline ping of an empty shell hitting the floor. Michael sounded glib as he responded.

"Running interference in enemy territory. Mess with their security. Send their IT techs on wild goose chases. Give them useless information, random facts, phony cake recipes, you know, the usual."

This confused the girl greatly. There was scattered gunfire in the background. Every once in a while, Michael would pause to take a shot at some target, but other than that, he sounded like he was an average office worker going about his daily tasks.

"Wait, what? Who exactly are you guys fighting and why am I not a part of this?"

Michael laughed lightly.

"Of course you're a part of this. We're at Hyperion's Eden-5 branch. Last I heard, you were with the Vault Hunters on Pandora, looks like you're about to attack Jack himself. Good job, tiger."

Gaige was completely caught off guard. Not only did her father casually reveal that Vladof was actively attacking Hyperion, their information network was uncomfortably accurate.

"Er… But… How…?"

She couldn't form a coherent sentence. Her brain had simply gone into neutral. Her father apparently found this highly amusing.

"It doesn't matter how I know. Will you be helping them?"

Gaige didn't immediately answer. Conflicted as she was, she couldn't answer. Her father paused, sensing her discontent.

"Gaige?"

The girl spoke in a quiet voice.

"I'm scared I won't come back to my family."

Her father didn't answer for the longest time.

"If you leave, will you be okay with the results, win or lose?"

Gaige didn't answer, so Michael continued.

"Do what you think is right. Your mother and I will be behind no matter the outcome."

The girl hung her head. She knew what she had to do, even if she didn't like it.

"I might die…"

The quiet whisper barely made it through the communicator, but Michael heard it as if his daughter were right next to him.

"Honey, you didn't run off to become a Vault Hunter and the account we set aside for your New-U respawns hasn't even been touched. Are you sure that's really a concern?"

The young mechromancer grinned ruefully, he had a point.

"Didn't want to give it away to Hyperion, I guess."

Her father let out a roaring laugh.

"Those pigs don't deserve it!"

Gaige stood there outside Scooter's workshop. She stared at the city around her. It would not be another New Haven.

"I love you, daddy. See you soon."

Michael chuckled, his daughter was always so sentimental about goodbyes.

"Godspeed, Gaige."

…

Michael pocketed his phone, giving the battlefield before him a satisfied look. Guards and soldiers alike littered the hallway to his left and right. The small turrets Antonia provided proved extremely effective at shooting just about anything that moved. All that was left was for him to pick off any stragglers that made it through the rain of bullets. In the room behind him, his wife stretched languidly and leaned back in her chair. The screen before her indicated that all Hyperion channels on Eden-5 were now open to attack. All security measures were deactivated and the backup troops were locked away behind meter thick blast walls. She rested her chin on one hand and stared curiously at her husband.

"Talking on the job? Has peacetime dulled your senses? What did Gaige want?"

Michael shot his wife a grin as he checked his weapon and began dialing the Generalissimus.

"Not much. Just wanted to bond a little I guess."

….

Unsurprisingly, Lilith had not, in any way, shape, or form, gotten used to having pure Eridium course through her body. But strangely enough, she was occasionally distracted from that pain through the occasional visits from the familiar man who claimed to be a spy. Today was another one of these odd little visits. Jack stepped out half an hour ago, muttering something about funding and loaders. As if by clockwork, that strange man appeared once again, giving her a couple seconds of conversation with her friends as they struggled to cope with the recent changes forced upon them by the insane Hyperion President. She knew most of them were going through the same thing she went through after they removed themselves from the system. That tentative moment of life and death still gave her nightmares to this day.

"What are you up to?"

The spy was turned towards the Hyperion console placed several meters away from where Lilith remained captive. At her query, he turned his head, glancing casually at the suffering woman.

"Information gathering… though there's not much I can do without actually touching the damn thing. Jack would be alerted the moment someone other than him messed around with the controls. What a waste of my time."

The man sighed dramatically and turned away from the machine in disgust. He continued mumbling away.

"One file. One simple file. How hard is it to find one bit of information? I bet Seidin knew about this. Bastard's always wanting me to do the impossible."

Squinting in pain, Lilith watched as the spy paced back and forth. She managed to squeeze out a question as her body went through a particularly jolting spasm.

"What are you… looking for?"

The man ignored her and continued mumbling.

"Well, yes, I could do that, but what if… dammit is there really no other way?"

One particular trait Lilith shared with her Siren sisters was that she despised being ignored. She quickly thought of a plan to get his attention.

"You know, you don't seem as evil as Jack."

Catching him off guard, this got the man to stop. The spy stared at her, a look of interest and humor on his face. Then, a laugh, one that didn't seem possible from the individual in question, rang out, echoing through the caverns. It was a light-hearted laugh that barely masked the underlying bitterness. He gave her a cheeky grin.

"Honey, I'm a spy. If you think me helping you puts us on the same side, you're sorely mistaken. I'm not a good person you know? Good people don't end up here."

He gestured vaguely at his surroundings. It took her a moment realize he had poked fun at her situation at the same time.

"But then again, what I do hardly compares to the atrocities against humanity performed on a daily basis by that shit of a president."

Finally, something to work with.

"Why do you hate Jack, anyway?"

The spy cocked an eyebrow at the shackled Siren.

"I do not hate the man. What is it they say? Hate the sin, not the sinner? But that doesn't mean justice cannot be meted out. Justice has not room for emotions."

Lilith couldn't help wondering how well that philosophy worked in practice. She decided to try to get more answers.

"Who do you work for anyway? Not Jack, obviously."

The man's eyes grew cold and he gave her a pitying stare.

"Shame, I thought you were smarter than that. I have no reason to tell you. You were a fool to have asked."

Emboldened, the Siren tried again.

"Why hide from Jack, then? Afraid of being caught?"

The man snorted.

"I minimize complications. There is no need for that man to see me here."

At that precise moment, a voice echoed loudly throughout the cavern.

"Hey!"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The masked bastard had chosen that moment to return. The spy tensed. Despite her blurred vision, Lilith thought she saw a glint of metal appear briefly in the man's hand before vanishing as soon as it had appeared. Jack marched over to the two on the summoning altar. His face was a picture of annoyance and mild confusion.

"What the hell are you doing here? I don't need you here. Don't you have something better to do? Kiss some politician's ass for funding?"

The man in question merely smiled blandly at Jack. It was such a sudden shift in behavior that Lilith wondered if she was hallucinating from the pain. The voice that came out of the spy's man was no longer full of conviction and purpose, but rather oozed with saccharine submissiveness.

"Of course, sir."

The spy bowed slightly, turned, and strolled calmly off the summoning altar. With that, the bewildered Siren was once again left alone with her tormentor. Jack turned a triumphant sneer to the Siren. His voice was full of glee and anticipation.

"Tomorrow's the big day! How you're ready. I know I am."

With a dark chuckle, Jack returned to his work on the command console.

…

"This is it, huh?"

Angel sat curled up in a chair, knees drawn to her chest. Nearby, Zer0 sat on his bed, silently checked each of his weapons, his face a picture of indifference despite the lack of a helmet. Sensing that he was not planning on answering anytime soon, the Siren sighed and rested her head on her knees. She stared out the window at the residents of Sanctuary, some of which were standing around, hopelessness evident in their faces.

"Think we can win?"

Again, no response. Angel continued to watch the crowds outside. One individual seemed to have realized that staying in a flying city gave him no options for escaping should it be attacked again. After all, even if Jack forgot about Sanctuary after kidnapping Lilith, it didn't change the fact that they were very open to bombardments from the moon base. The individual in question was trying to throw himself off the city via the openings near the central engine. Ignoring the fact that he could have simply used the Fast Travel to leave, people who noticed were trying to pull him off the railing. Still facing the window, the girl sighed sadly.

"I don't know if I'm ready to die again…"

Her shoulders trembled slightly. Barely a week ago, she had been defiant, welcoming her own death as it would mean a stop to Jack's plans as well as her own freedom. But as she travelled and fought alongside the Vault Hunters, her feelings gradually changed. She jumped as Zer0's voice broke the uncomfortable silence.

"We'll look out for each other. It worked fine when I was travelling with the others. We go as a group, that way we'll always have someone watching out backs."

Angel straightened her legs and looked at the man, who was busy fiddling with the scope on his Maliwan rifle. His indifference annoyed her greatly.

"How can you be so calm about this? You don't have a lifeline anymore."

The assassin set aside the rifle scope and looked over at the distraught Siren. He raised an eyebrow and spoke in a tone that indicated she had asked a rather stupid question.

"Before I came here, I was already a dead man, remember?"

The girl lowered her head, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"That doesn't mean you should throw your life away."

The two sat in silence. Angel was clearly distressed about the situation, having been put through what she believed was a very real death just recently. Standing quietly, the man strode over to where the girl sat staring at the floor. He knelt down in front of her, which due to his height placed him at about eye level. He spoke in gentle tones, not quite scolding her words.

"You don't have to worry about me. Just look out for yourself."

The girl took a shuddering breath, trying to quell her emotions. Zer0's lips twitched downwards in a faint frown. Steeling himself, he drew the trembling girl into a tentative embrace. As he did this, he spoke quietly.

"Don't worry. I'll keep you safe."

The girl tensed at the contact. After a moment, she spoke.

"Why?"

The man pulled back slightly, looking a bit confused.

"I was under the impression humans did this sort of thing to comfort each other?"

Angel shook her head, dark hair partially obscuring her face.

"Why do you do all this for me?"

The assassin looked mildly amused.

"You've got an amazing capacity to see the good in people, no matter how elusive that good is. You're incredibly independent for someone who spent most of their life enslaved."

He gave her a rare smile, little more than a small twitch of the corners of his mouth.

"I would hate to see that kind of person killed."

Angel let out a small laugh, still sounding a bit nervous.

"Thanks."

The man slowly stood. As he turned, there was a small movement behind him and a hand reached out, preventing him from returning to the bed. The Siren's blue eyes focused on Zer0, hesitation apparent in them.

"After all this…"

The man turned to face the young girl, who tried to hold his unblinking stare. Finally, she mustered up the courage to continue.

"After we kill Jack, can I come with you? Where ever you're going?"

Zer0 considered this for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he nodded slowly.

"I suppose that would be alright. But I have to ask…"

Angel tilted her head to the left, wondering what he could want.

"You've got your life back. Do you not wish to live as you should have if you had a loving family?"

The girl let out a sad sort of laugh.

"I don't think I'd know how to live 'normally' if you know what I mean. I spent most of my life watching others. I'd like to experience that kind of excitement for myself."

Zer0 smirked at her admission.

"This doesn't count as exciting?"

He gestured, indicating the situation they were now in. Angel scrunched up her face in annoyance.

"Being forced to fight for your life hardly counts as exciting."

He nodded.

"Very well then. It would be an honor to have you accompany me."

The girl spoke once more, still holding his hand. As she spoke, she took a small step forward.

"Thanks for listening."

She drew in and gave Zer0 a quick peck on the cheek. He was almost a head taller than her and she had to stand on her toes.

"See you tomorrow."

Face tinted with red, the young Siren fled the room, leaving a bemused assassin behind. After a moment, a pale hand reached up to touch where Angel had made contact with his skin.

Shrugging, he returned to work on tuning his scope.

…

A/N: Whew. That should tide you over with histories and character development!

See you next week! (And in the new year!)


	13. Rushing

A/N: Yippee… It's a new year. Somehow, New Year's events seem a bit dull after going to Vegas for 2012.

Note: **naruXhinacrazy** being the awesome person she is, drew something for this fic! Check it out at cheshycatgrin -**dot**- deviantart -**dot**- com -**slash** # -**slash**- d5pra2s. Leave her a comment if you want!

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 12 – Rushing

Before Mordecai stood six determined individuals, each of whom recently confirmed their presence in the upcoming battle in one way or another. They stood in front of him, expectant looks on their faces, waiting. The man rubbed his face, trying to ignore the throbbing headache that was the result of the previous day's activities. In spite of the severity of their situation, he couldn't help thinking that the sun was just too damn bright. He cursed the thing with a vengeance as he squeezed his eyes shut, which only made his head throb worse. How the hell that dwarf was standing calm as can be in front of him was a complete mystery, the man had kept drinking long after the sniper passed out. Mordecai took a slow, steadying breath and the room pulsated a bit less.

"Okay. It's time to kill Jack. One way or another, it all ends today. Turns out Brick wasn't out killing people to pass the time. He hijacked a barge for us to use as support and transportation. You guys head to Hero's Pass for a frontal assault. Brick and I will provide support as soon as we arrive."

Axton stepped forward.

"The information we got suggested that the Warrior is underground. It's likely Jack has already moved troops and equipment there. Expect heavy resistance, the barge isn't exactly hard to miss."

Mordecai nodded, filing the advice away for later. He wished the man wouldn't speak so loudly. His mind drifted to thoughts of violence as the soldier continued in that overly loud voice.

"The surveys from Hyperion suggest that the cavern floor drops down after the initial descent. The blueprints indicate that Hyperion has progressed enough that it will be easy to go down. However, you'll likely need to find a place to disembark from the barge. Should we wait for you two?"

The sniper didn't respond, it almost appeared that he had fallen asleep with his forehead resting on his arms. Axton glanced at his partners, one eyebrow raised. Maya frowned lightly.

"Allow me."

Stepping forward, she gave the dozing man a nasty shock. The blue-purple spark arced as the man jolted upright.

"Gah! What!"

Maya didn't look impressed.

"Sober up, get the barge, and meet us at Hero's Pass. Got it?"

The masked man rubbed his arm, shaking off the residual twinges.

"Oww… dammit, woman, stop doing that!"

The Siren pulled even closer.

"Got it?"

The man cowered under her intense glare.

"Yes, ma'am."

Maya stepped back, looking appeased but still glowering at the sniper who just didn't seem to be taking the situation too seriously. Axton looked back over at the sniper, a slightly apologetic look on his face.

"Well, uh… see you there? Come on, guys, let's move out."

One by one, the team filed out after the soldier, leaving Mordecai behind still rubbing his arm. Outside, Axton turned to the group.

"Hyperion's taken over most of the area, so we might need some help getting through security. Angel, think you can do that?"

The girl nodded, glancing briefly at Zer0.

"Shouldn't be too bad. Just keep any enemies off my back."

There was an almost undetectable nod from the assassin. Axton seemed content with this and began heading towards the Fast Travel station. Unfortunately, as they entered the building, they heard a particularly annoying voice barking out orders.

"It's time to end this, minions! I'll meet you out in the Eridium Blight."

The small yellow robot stood bouncing in front of them. Getting no response, he rolled over to the Fast Travel terminal and disappeared. After a moment, Salvador spoke.

"Uh… shouldn't we stop him or something?"

Angel groaned.

"Little idiot's going to get us killed. Keep him away from the security terminals."

Zer0's helmet displayed the letters 'FML'.

"Though he means to help, / Skills that never existed / Cannot be improved."

Sighing, Axton approached the transport terminal.

"Well, come on. Hopefully he hasn't done too much yet."

…

'This is odd.'

Through the numbing pain generated by the constant flow of Eridium, Lilith managed to form that single line of thought. There had been a noticeable change in Handsome Jack's behavior. The usual derogatory comments and physical abuse gradually subsided during the last couple days. Aside from a few words after the minor altercation with the Vladof spy the day before, Jack had barely looked at the Siren. He now worked quietly at the command console nearby, emanating some kind of meticulous fervor. He seemed almost as nervous as he was excited. The moment to open the Vault drew closer with every unit of Eridium being pumped through the captive Siren.

As Lilith pondered these changes, the man stood from his seat near the console and stretched. He glanced down at the monitors and various sensors for a moment longer. Seemingly satisfied, he nodded his head once before turning to leave the altar. While the man strode by, he gave the Siren a disgusted look, as one might stare at an offending insect. With a sneer, he continued on his way, likely to give orders to the rest of the troops. Moments after Jack had left, she spoke resignedly.

"No use sneaking around. Not much to hide from anyway."

A light-hearted laugh was heard as a familiar spy sauntered into the corner of her vision.

"Too often, huh? Oh well, no matter."

The man crouched down and began fiddling with something at the base of the machinery that held her captive and provided the constant flow of Eridium. Lilith tried to bend her neck, but the bonds of energy held fast.

"What are you doing?"

The same carefree voice floated back.

"Just a couple precautions. I understand your little friends are coming here. I'm quite sure they'll make it. In the event the Warrior is summoned, its energy emissions will trigger a shield using the same Eridium energy that bastard's been using on you. It should dissipate whenever that trigger is removed."

Before the Siren could say anything else, the man stood and nodded to the befuddled Siren.

"Enjoy the show. I'll be making some popcorn. Ta."

With a casual wave of his hand, the spy vanished from her line of sight. She couldn't even hear his footsteps as he walked away.

…

Two bandit technicals skidded across the wasted landscape of the Eridium Blight. The atmosphere of this starved land remained the same as it had been the first time around. It seemed that nothing more could be done to this land. Hyperion had simply mined it dry and left the husk of a formerly thriving ecosystem. Many of the travelers had little desire to see the wastes again, but it was the only entrance to Hero's Pass. The moment the vehicles screeched to a halt just off the path, they all disembarked, vaulting over the makeshift barricades with ease. In the distance, they could make out a small yellow robot, jumping and waving a spindly arm. He appeared to be yelling something so the team moved closer.

Unfortunately, he could also see them.

Taking their appearance as a signal, the robot suddenly rushed off towards a massive barricade in the distance, waving his arms wildly and yelling some inane battle cry. Maya growled in frustration as she took off after the impulsive robot. Angel rolled her eyes and followed.

"That stupid robot's gonna get us killed!"

Zer0 drew his rifle, scanning the area for potential enemies as both Sirens tore after the robot. There didn't appear to be any enemies, but he doubted this would be the case for long. Even at a full sprint, the two women couldn't catch up to the speeding robot. He reached the computer next to the door and began typing on it. As the team drew closer, they could finally make out what he was saying.

"Don't worry, minions! I'll have this door open in NO TIME! This Hyperion security has NOTHING on my badass hacking skills."

Maya, who was closer, called out in a vain hope to stop him.

"NO! You stupid robot! Don't you dare touch that…"

Her cries fell on deaf ears as the small yellow machine rolled back, arms raised triumphantly.

"Aaand open!"

Claptrap posed as if showing off his impressive, though ultimately nonexistent, hacking skills. He bounced back and forth for a moment, awaiting a response. Then, a smooth female voice spoke from a nearby speaker.

"Access denied. Initiating blast doors."

A heavier set of doors slammed into place, making the door all the more impenetrable. The gathered warriors tensed, waiting a further response. There was silence. The small robot fumed, unaccustomed to such rejection. He hopped up and down madly gesturing wildly at the door.

"I said 'Aaand open!' Not 'Aaand close!'"

The system remained impassive. The robot began muttering to himself.

"Playing hard to get, huh? Fine. Lock me out of the system? Fine. What's this… password? Fine. You wanna be like that? Soon, you'll be begging me to stop, baby. Take this!"

The robot began pounding away furiously at the keyboard. The Vault Hunters backed away cautiously, sensing the inevitable outcome of Claptrap's actions.

"Let's see… six character password… Ah ha! A… A… A… A… A… Umm… A"

Finally, there was a response. The cool female voice responded in a slightly snarky tone.

"Access denied. Sending reinforcements."

The air around them was filled with the whine of electronics as nearby constructors began to transport loaders from the moon base. By this time, the team had already taken position behind various shipping containers and blockades littering the area. Each robot stepped forward off the construction platform, weapons readying with an ominous click. Claptrap began freaking out at this point.

"Sphincters! Just gimme a second! I'll shut off the security as soon as I get this password! Keep them away, minions!"

By this time, the loaders were firing away, bullets ricocheting off the various barriers. The robot began pummeling the keyboard, trying random combinations of letters, trying to get a password to work. Axton tossed his turret on top of a container and ducked back behind, being mindful of his shields. The heavily modified Dahl turret tore through many of the smaller loaders and was even able to force the larger, badass loaders to stumble. Well placed shots to the joints brought these tougher enemies down. As they struggled against the seemingly endless torrent of loaders, the little robot was making 'progress' on the door security.

"Ah, password again! Got some secrets you don't want me to know about, do you? Talk to Clappy, baby! A… A… A… A… A… C!"

Through the gunfire, the female voice of the Hyperion security system could be heard in that same mocking tone.

"Access denied. Activating turrets."

Claptrap pounded the keyboard angrily.

"Dammit!"

Above, two large sentry turrets dropped down, shields activating to provide each turret with a protective bubble. These turrets immediately focused on the Vault Hunters, who were forced to seek cover as a hail of energy rained down on the party. Axton's turret was demolished in the initial barrage, forcing the man to duck for cover as the extra enemies turned their fire on him. Near him, Maya was firing at loaders with an SMG, picking off the unfortunate few that got closer with Phaselock. The two worked in tandem, one firing over the shoulder of the other whenever they needed to reload. In time, Axton was able to reconstruct his turret, placing it in a more strategic location so it could rejoin the fight without getting hit by the still active turrets.

"TURN THEM OFF YOU STUPID ROBOT!"

Gaige let out an undignified shriek as she flung herself to the side, just barely avoiding several blasts from the turrets. Zer0 retaliated, taking out two badass loaders with precision shots to the optics. The mecromancer took that time to summon Deathtrap again, the floating robot roaring in defiance as it zoomed forward without fear of the gunfire. She then maneuvered out from behind cover to fire wildly at the enemies, attempting to catch one or two in any weak points. Nearby, Angel grabbed Salvador by the shoulder as he ducked behind the shipping container they were using for cover.

"Cover me!"

She gestured at the tiny robot at the door controls. Salvador nodded grimly as he hoisted a second assault rifle. The small Siren darted out from cover as the gunzerker open fired behind her. Loaders in front of her fell as she pushed her way forward. She had switched her normal rifle for a more maneuverable SMG and used it to take out loaders that avoided Salvador's suppressing fire. After a few harrowing seconds, the girl made it to the panicking robot. From the way the loaders continued to show up, it appeared that Claptrap had done nothing more than request more reinforcements from Hyperion. He was now pleading with the female voice, trying to get her to stop sending reinforcements.

"Let me do this!"

Angel grabbed the yellow robot, still begging pathetically with the system, and pushed him aside. The girl was painfully aware of how open her location was and moved to deactivate the security system. She laid a hand on the security terminal.

"Activating Phaseshift!"

The Siren dove into the Hyperion security system and turned her attention to the most pressing matter: the turrets. After a quick workaround with the password, she was able to turn their targeting system around, forcing them to target the newly created Hyperion loaders. The Hyperion robots nearly stumbled in confusion as they suddenly needed to deal with a new threat. Several dozen loaders fell before their programming adjusted accordingly and began to fire at new enemy turrets. The Vault Hunters barely hesitated as they took the new distraction to take down more loaders.

"Look out, minion!"

Angel was suddenly dragged out of her dive as Claptrap tackled her to the ground, several bullets slamming into the door just past where she was standing. Her heart was pounding away in her chest as she remained on the ground for a few moments, stunned. Then reality kicked in and she raised her weapon and returned fire. Warily, she stood and returned to work. Finally, she broke through the security barriers. The Siren opened up door access and reset the number of loaders available for defense to zero. Faintly, she could hear the female Hyperion announcer admit defeat in a rather reluctant tone.

"Reinforcements… depleted. Access… granted…"

Claptrap responded gleefully, as if he had been the one to break the security system.

"Don't worry, baby! Happens to a lot of girls!"

Angel sank to her knees, panting slightly from overexertion. The others finished off the remaining loaders with ease and began making their way around the scrap metal that littered the battlefield. The exuberant robot rolled in front of the massive blast doors, gesturing triumphantly.

"AAAAAAAAND OPEEEEEEENNNNNN!"

The blast doors began slowly creaking open. Claptrap turned excitedly to the gathered Vault Hunters.

"We did it, minions! Jack thought he could stop us with a door? HA! I was MADE to open doors! There's no stopping us now! Together, we shall FREE PANDORA! I will lead you into battle! I will destroy Handsome Jack with my BARE HANDS! I will…"

The robot turned to the newly opened passageway and froze. The metal walkway rose up in a massive set of stairs that seemed to stretch into the distance. At this revelation, Axton leaned closer to Maya, speaking quietly.

"We have to go up… to go down?"

The Siren shrugged. If the small robot had a jaw, it would have dropped in despair, right then and there.

"STAIRS?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Salvador raised an eyebrow at this. Gaige looked rather impatient as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other, one hand on her hip. Zer0 wore the same blank expression on his mask except with the letters 'LOL' displayed. Claptrap turned and looked at the people in front of him with as pitiful a look as he could muster with only an eye.

"Minions… go on without me. Do your master proud!"

Then, the robot began to rant.

"Dammit, Jack! How did you know stairs were my ONLY weakness?! Next to electrocution, and explosions, and gunfire…"

Axton began climbing the stairs, muttering something about wasted time. He was quickly followed by Maya and Salvador. Claptrap lamented on.

"Rust, corrosion, being kicked a lot, viruses, being called bad names…"

Gaige shook her head and followed the others, Deathtrap floating along idly after her. The robot looked at the floor glumly as he continued.

"Falling from great heights, drowning, adult onset diabetes, heart attacks…"

Angel looked at Zer0, who was idly watching the monologue with mild interest.

"Exposure to oxygen, being turned down by women, and pet allergens! Your brilliance is matched only by your malevolence!"

The robot let out a sad sigh.

"I'm just gonna go ahead and cloak now. You can't hear me crying if I cloak."

Finally bored, Zer0 ran off after the other four, leaving Angel with the vanishing robot. The Siren looked somewhat uncomfortable as the invisible robot began crying. She couldn't decide if it was funny or awkwardly sad. The robot sobbed harder.

"I'm so alone…"

Grimacing, the Siren reached out to where the robot was and gave him two awkward pats on the head in an effort to comfort him. He seemed to pay no heed to this and continued to cry. Giving up, Angel ran off up the stairs. As she ran out of hearing range, she could hear one last piteous cry.

"I'll never climb those stairs!"

…

"Get out of here, bandit scum!"

Axton flinched as a bullet sparked on the barricade he was using for cover. There was a loud gunshot as Mordecai silenced the offending soldier from his place atop the stolen drop-barge. Inside the ship, a volunteer from Sanctuary piloted the barge closer to the battlefield. The six members of the Vault Hunter squad had spent the last couple minutes following Brick as he tore a path through man and machine alike. They found themselves stymied by a large gate, which was pulsating with energy, effectively blocking the road. It appeared the generator powering the force field was behind the gate and they needed Mordecai to take it out from the barge. The only problem was the poor volunteer from Sanctuary was having a bit of trouble getting the barge to move properly. The occasional JET loader crashing into the walls of the barge and the constant attacks on the ship didn't help. The man seemed to be frantically struggling with the steering.

"Hang on! We're almost there!"

Mordecai called out from his perch as the figures below continued to fend off wave after wave of loaders. He crouched low to steady himself as the barge gave a particularly nasty lurch, nearly causing the man to fall off. Careening back and forth, the barge slowly made its way behind the gate. Mordecai waited for the pilot to steady the ship. Finally, he took aim, inhaled, and then exhaled as he pulled the trigger. The generator exploded in a plume of smoke and flames.

"Boom, baby! The path is clear!"

Incensed by this, JET loader began to attack the drop-barge with a renewed effort. The massive, flying hunk of metal creaked and groaned as the metal buckled under the attacks.

"Dammit! They're swarming us, Brick! Just leave! Keep going! Help the others!"

From a platform above the group, Brick shook his head stubbornly.

"Like hell! I gotcha Mordecai!"

The barge shuddered as it continued to lose altitude. The relentless waves of loaders had ceased at this point and the six fighters rushed to the ledge to shoot down the remaining JET loaders. As the drop-barge dipped past their position, a small figure leaped onto the extended platform of the ship.

"Angel!"

Maya called out in worry as the smaller Siren rolled and slid before catching herself and coming to a stop. The girl stood and motioned to the others.

"Go! I've got a plan!"

The Siren waved for the team to leave. Axton took control of the situation.

"Come on! We don't have time to waste!

He turned to speak one last time to Angel.

"You stay alive, got it?"

Then, he dashed off through the deactivated gateway. Hesitantly, the Maya, Salvador, and Gaige followed. Zer0 gave one last glance at the failing barge, reluctance apparent in his body language. Angel stared at the expressionless mask for a moment longer.

"I'll be fine. I know what I'm doing. Promise."

Zer0 remained silent. Finally, he called down to her.

"Stay safe."

He turned and ran off after the others. The Siren watched until the man was out of sight. With that, Angel disappeared into the depths of the barge.

…

"Mordecai! I can't control this! Help!"

The volunteer from Sanctuary called out in panic as he threw his weight against the steering wheel, trying to get the barge to move to a more defensive location. Job completed, Mordecai ran inside and helped the man pull the steering wheel. The barge shook violently as it gradually fell under the JET loader's relentless attacks. The sniper grabbed the nearby receiver, yelling into it as he attempted to regain control of the careening barge.

"Dammit! They're swarming me, Brick! Just leave! Keep going! Help the others!"

Brick's powerful voice boomed out, audible even from inside the barge.

"Like hell! I gotcha Mordecai!"

The barge actually shook as the heavy man landed. Moments later, the female Hyperion announcer spoke through the barge's communications system.

"Locking onto drop-barge. Commencing lunar bombardment"

Mordecai attempted to pull the barge up, but it remained stubbornly in the open. The JET loaders seemed to be dispersing, being alerted of the impending attack. The sniper threw down the receiver and pulled on the steering wheel more. Free from the JET loaders, the barge lumbered up about forty meters before the thrusters sputtered and half of them failed. The barge began to descend again. A loud whine indicated that there were projectiles still incoming.

"Crap! They got a lock on us!"

The door to the cockpit burst open as Brick rushed into the room.

"Come on, Mordecai! Guy I don't know! Time to go!"

A look of horror appeared on the old sniper's face.

"Brick! NO! Get out of here! You need to help the others!"

Brick looked as if his friend had finally gone off the deep end.

"I'm saving you!"

Mordecai looked incredibly frustrated.

"And how are you gonna do that! If you haven't noticed, this barge is CRASHING! And now Hyperion's gonna hit us with a lunar bombardment!"

The bulky man looked a bit embarassed at this.

"Oh. Didn't really think about that."

A frantic Siren rushed in through the open door.

"Out of the way!"

Brick look confused as he moved to give the girl space.

"What chu doin' here, girl?"

Angel shot the others a tight smile.

"Saving your ass. Activating Phaseshift."

The Siren dove into the digital world. She felt a sense of nostalgia as she flitted through the familiar firewalls and their respective holes. From the connection between the drop-barge and the lunar base targeting system, she accessed the lunar base's control tower. It was too late to stop the bombardment, the shells had already been fired, so she did the next best thing. Through the control tower, she sent out a mass order to the JET loaders still flying about, forcing the robots to zoom in and intercept the shots from the lunar bombardment. The barge shook violently as the shockwaves hit, causing the ship to sink even further. Rushing, Angel did the one thing she could think of at that moment. She sent the remaining JET loaders crashing into the side of the barge, sending the massive transport lurching into the platform below.

The noise was unbearable. The impact of the barge hitting the platform sent a shockwave through the ship, jolting the girl out of cyberspace and back into the physical world. She curled up into a ball as she slammed painfully into the opposite wall. Angel was then thrown about as the barge skidded across the platforms, tearing up the reinforced metallic flooring. After a few excruciating seconds, the barge screeched to a stop, the metal below them groaning loudly. The girl held her breath, afraid that any move would cause their support to collapse. When it appeared that they were finally stable, she breathed a sigh of relief. Removing herself from the scraps that used to be a leather chair, Angel stood. A quick search found Mordecai in a corner surrounded by wiring.

"You alright?"

There was a groan as Mordecai sat up, rubbing his neck gingerly.

"Augh… I'm getting too old for this shit."

A small pile of metal nearby shifted and Brick pulled himself out of the rubble.

"Still alive I guess."

She continued to look around. To her dismay, the volunteer from Sanctuary was dead. The crash had sent glass and twisted shrapnel skewering through his body, ending his life in an instant. She tore her eyes away from the scene and turned back to the old Vault Hunters, both of whom were wincing in pain as they forced themselves to stand.

"Come on, the other's aren't gonna wait for us."

Nodding mutely, the two followed the Siren as she clambered out of the barge wreckage. With Brick and Mordecai tailing her, Angel rushed off into the depths of Hero's Pass.

…

A/N: Time to head back to school. Yaaay…

See you next week.


	14. Deciding

A/N: Stressful week, didn't get much time to write… and yet I managed to finish and upload this chapter earlier than I've been able to for about two months now. Huh.

Note: Someone else (I'm about ninety percent confident it's **SparkCrystal**) drew me another drawing! Check it out at fatecrystal **-dot-** deviantart **-dot-** com **-slash-** # **-slash-** d5qkyi2

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 13 – Deciding

Down they went.

The air grew gradually warmer as they descended the rocky caverns. The Vault Hunters found themselves walking down increasingly shoddy and incomplete settings. It appeared that, as Jack sensed his success, he focused less on establishing a proper defense and more on getting to the Warrior. Their current path seemed to have been simply blasted apart with a couple supports thrown in here and there. The uneven floor made it difficult to keep up a steady run.

But Zer0's thoughts were elsewhere, even as he casually dispatched some lingering groups of enemies. Face impassive, his teammates barely paid him any notice as he slowed his pace and fell behind a few steps. He wondered if a certain black-haired Siren had escaped that sinking wreck of a barge. The man eventually came to a halt, ducking behind a rock formation with the others as they took cover from several loaders and soldiers. Closing his eyes for a millisecond, he envisioned her last words to him.

'I'll be fine. I know what I'm doing. Promise.'

Her eyes had shown a surprising amount of confidence despite her situation. Those shockingly blue eyes displayed no sign of hesitation as she stared him down. He really had no choice but to trust her. It didn't make accepting it any easier though. Opening his eyes again, he picked off an engineer partially hidden by a shipping container in the distance, nearly missing the target due to his inattentiveness. Fortunately, the area seemed to be getting more and more empty the further down they went. An almost eerie silence soon fell as the only sounds around the group was that of their footfalls. Finally, they reached a single cargo lift leading further down. Axton glanced nervously at the others.

"Ready?"

Expressions grim, the others nodded as they gathered on the platform. Axton reached over and started the lift, which shuddered for a moment before starting its slow and creaky journey downward. Looking down and in the distance, the soldier spotted the summoning altar. It looked almost like a small island in a red-orange sea. He pointed this out to the others, to which Salvador commented warily.

"Looks empty…"

Axton nodded in agreement.

"Be prepared for anything. We don't know what Jack plans to throw at us, but based on the kind of person he is, we can probably expect some kind of trap."

The lift groaned and thudded to a halt at the bottom level of the area. Before them, the cavern opened up into a massive room. Lava flowed through most of the room, indicating that they were in the heart of the mountain, or rather, inactive volcano. Far above, through the red glow of the lava, they could make out the murky purple skies of the Eridium Blight. A single path led out towards the summoning altar. Cautiously, the four Vault Hunters crept towards the Vault Key and Lilith. From their position, they could make out the captured Siren's face. Her eyes were screwed up in pain as raw energy coursed through her body and then into the Key. Maya instinctively took a step back, feeling nauseated by the pulsating plasma. Axton motioned for Zer0 to watch their backs. Silently, the assassin maneuvered himself up onto a rock and crouched down, rifle at the ready. The Siren regained her mettle and readied her weapon. Nearby, Salvador did the same thing, crouching lower to pose less of a target. Gaige steadied her assault rifle in one hand and prepared to summon Deathtrap should the situation require the flying robot. Axton checked his own assault rifle, memories coming back to haunt him.

'Death is not an option.'

Axton shook his head slightly to clear it. Mouth set in a thin line, he led the team forward. There didn't appear to be anyone around, but they knew better than to assume that. As they moved closer to the control panel, they could hear a light tapping of fingers on keys. Then, a figure shimmered into view as the typing stopped. Handsome Jack turned to face the group, a look of anticipation on his face. His eyes danced with a strange light and it seemed as though he hadn't slept in days.

"Hey, you're right on time – Key's almost ready! But before I cleanse this planet for good, I'm gonna avenge my daughter."

With that, he disappeared.

…

Angel leapt over the broken shell of a loader as she ran down the path to the Warrior's summoning altar and Jack. Behind her, two older Vault Hunters struggled to keep up. Mordecai was panting hard as he clutched a stitch in his side.

"W…Wait up… Girl, wait…"

The Siren paused for a moment, spinning to glare at the man, impatience clear in her eyes.

"What?''

The old sniper gasped for breath, bent over with his hands on his knees.

"I… I just… gotta catch… my breath."

Brick looked pityingly at his friend.

"You're just… out of shape… cuz you don't… punch things…"

Mordecai frowned, squinting at his friend.

"You don't sound any better there, buddy."

Angel really didn't have the time for banter at the moment.

"Can you two man up and get moving? We don't have the luxury to sit around!"

Mordecai raised a placating hand, sitting down on a nearby loader corpse. He took a few more breaths before speaking slowly.

"Woah there, girly. If you haven't noticed, we're kinda injured… How did you come out of all that without a scratch?"

Brick sat down heavily with a groan. The young Siren stared incredulously at the two. Finally, she shook her head, her annoyance visible.

"Fine. You two take a breather and then catch up."

With that, she turned and ran off through the Hyperion excavation site, leaving the two men behind to nurse their wounds. Mordecai sighed as he allowed himself to rest.

"I'm getting too old for this shit."

Brick grunted in agreement.

…

The battle was going rather poorly. Jack was taking full advantage of his engineering prowess, utilizing a hybrid defense device he had created in his spare time. He could create multiple, fully-autonomous projections of himself or even completely disappear with the push of a button. Coupled with the modified pistol that had easily pierced Roland's shields, the Vault Hunters were doing all they could to simply survive. They witnessed firsthand how strong such a small weapon could be when Deathtrap took its full blast, which shattered the robot's core, causing it to perform an emergency deconstruction.

"¡VAMONOS, PUTA!"

Salvador drew two rocket launchers, firing wildly at Jack's current location. This seemed to have some effect as the shockwaves stunned the man, dropping his shields. Sensing an opportunity, Axton open fired on the unshielded man, satisfied at the spray of blood that erupted from Jack's right shoulder and left calf. Staggering slightly, the injured man typed something into the communicator on his left wrist. The floor near him exploded as two turrets were dropped. These were followed by a single surveyor, which immediately began to recharge his shield. Both Axton and Salvador dodged out of the way as the turrets and Jack simultaneously began to retaliate.

"Gimme a distraction!"

Gaige called out to Zer0, who nodded and cast out a holographic projection of his own, using that time to rush to a different location. The mechromancer took that small window to fire upon one of the turrets, managing to damage it before they turned their attention back to her. A small beep indicated that Deathtrap was ready again. She summoned the flying robot as she herself fired from behind partial cover. The metal robot growled, slashing away at the damaged turret, which sparked and finally exploded.

"Hell yeah!"

She cheered as she ducked back down and began moving to a different location. Jack growled and charged forward, his shields fully replenished. The surveyor now joined the battle, firing spheres of concentrated energy at the Vault Hunters. Jack created more holograms, attempting to catch the team off guard. It worked to some extent as he ended up behind the young mechromancer. Luckily for her, the high-powered pistol shot caught her in her prosthetic, leaving a nasty dent in the reinforced metal. The girl ran, arm numb and incapacitated for the moment. Jack turned invisible and summoned loader reinforcements from the moon base. The robots crashed onto the platform and joined the fray.

"Give it up! Your only delaying the inevitable!"

The invisible president's mocking voice rang out over the gunfire. He was forced to suddenly dodge as one of Zer0's sniper rifle bullets whizzed dangerously close. The loaders behind him weren't so lucky as they exploded into scrap metal. Still invisible, the man retaliated, sending the sniper ducking behind cover again. As the cloaking wore off, Jack spoke with a cocky grin on his face.

"One versus five, and I'm kicking your ass? This is pathetic!"

He duplicated himself again as the remaining turret and surveyor to seek out their prey. By this time, Salvador had been mostly forgotten and, mostly unseen, was able to line up a clear shot to the turret. A single rocket was all it took to destroy the second turret. Deathtrap quickly dispatched the surveyor, overloading its circuits with a blast of electricity and sending the small craft plummeting to the ground. With a roar, Jack reloaded his pistol and continued to fire, forcing the Vault Hunters to take cover. Finally, Axton managed to fire at one of the figures, which turned out to also be a hologram, causing the soldier to yell in frustration.

"Stop hiding and fight, you bastard!"

There was that same mirthless chuckle again as the rest of the holograms vanished and Jack reappeared. Too late, the soldier realized the Hyperion president was behind him. A vicious blow sent the man to the ground, weapon spinning away. Axton groaned and then froze as he felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of his head. Jack's voice was cold as he spoke.

"I've done all the fighting, idiot. See, this is the part where I kill you."

As the man increased pressure on the gun's trigger, there was a shout from nearby.

"NO!"

A blue and yellow blur tackled Jack to the ground. The man bounced slightly as he tried to free himself from Maya's clutches. He had lost his grip on his weapon during the tackle and was now resorting to fists as he attacked the incensed Siren. Unfortunately for him, the Siren retained a solid grip on her SMG, which she pressed into his stomach and pulled the trigger. Several short bursts sounded as the Dahl SMG discharged. There was a shattering sound as Jack's shield was destroyed again. The man's cry of pain rang out shortly afterwards.

"Get off me you bitch!"

Jack shook off the blue-haired Siren, staggering over to the center of the altar, panting heavily. He was now bleeding badly in several places but he either didn't notice or didn't care. He grinned at the Vault Hunters, who were now approaching with their weapons aimed at him.

"Is that it? All that bandit bravado? That's all you got?"

Axton took another step, finger hovering over the trigger of his weapon.

"Don't move, you bastard. You're a dead man and you know it."

Jack let out a dark chuckle.

"You really think I'd come all this way without a plan? Well, shows how smart you bandits really are."

Salvador growled as he readied his shotgun with a menacing click.

"That's it. I'm killing this piece of shit."

The shotgun barked and Jack threw himself clumsily to the side, though not fast enough as some of the buckshot caught his upper arm, sending him spinning back towards the charging Key. Yet that satisfied grin remained. The masked man spoke again, gesturing dramatically as he spoke.

"This… is what I'd like to call… a distraction."

Above them, the three piece of the Key joined as if attracted by some magnetic force. Then it drifted downwards towards the keyhole, bypassing the captured Siren on its way down. Lilith wore a horrified expression as she shouted out in warning.

"No! Get out of here! The Key's charged!"

Jack laughed maniacally.

"I'm not dying just yet."

With that, he gripped the edge of the Vault Key, forcing it down into the receptacle. There was a burst of energy as the Key was activated. Suddenly realizing the pain from his wounds, Jack fell to the ground nearby. The charging station lost its power as the Key pulsed and the energy shield planted by a certain spy activated. Without the Eridium bonds, Lilith fell too, hitting the ground with a pained grunt. Jack barely noticed. The bloody man laughed from his place on the floor of the summoning altar. Struggling, he pushed himself onto his hands and knees.

"You're too late, bandits! I win. The greatest power Pandora has ever seen… and it's MINE to control!"

At the far end of the summoning altar, something large burst out of the lava, sending molten rock splattering the area. A creature, larger than anything the Vault Hunters had encountered on Pandora, rose up and perched on the arch at the end of the platform. It raised its colossal head and roared to the heavens, the noise reverberating off the walls. As if in response, Jack also bent his head back and screamed out loud.

"WARRIOR!"

The gargantuan beast roared out again in reply as it leapt down from its perch, lava splashing when it landed. Jack grinned in that half-crazed manner he used when completely pissed off. His command rang out over the fading roars.

"Kill."

…

"What's going on? I thought you had the situation under control!"

The voice of Tusya Seidin bellowed out from a small communicator on a nearby desk. His spy sat languidly in an oversized armchair that coincidentally belonged to Jack. He gave the communicator a dismissive glance.

"It is."

The Generalissimus did not appear to be happy with that response.

"So our energy readings are spiking for fun then? You were sent there to stop the man from summoning the Warrior!"

The spy scoffed, insulted that his boss would even partially doubt his skill.

"It's being taken care of. Should our bold adventurers fall, my failsafe will eliminate the alien threat."

There was a moment of silence as the man on the other side of the communicator fumed. Then, he spoke in a somewhat less annoyed tone.

"What I don't understand is why you even bothered to let things get this far!"

The spy sighed, speaking slowly as if he were teaching a small child.

"Tusya, what is my primary goal?"

The Generalissimus barely hesitated.

"To eliminate the Warrior."

The spy rolled his eyes.

"Wrong. My goal is to remain undetected."

Confused, his boss retorted.

"Couldn't you just stab the guy in the back or something?"

The lounging man sneered even though the other man couldn't see him.

"Yes, you would suggest such an asinine plan. That would've blown my cover."

His boss wouldn't let up.

"And he would be dead."

The spy frowned, annoyed at where the conversation was heading.

"I wasn't completely sure of that, so I decided not to take that risk. Killing him probably wouldn't have done anything."

There was a sharp intake of breath.

"You mean…"

The spy cut him off.

"I don't know. There is no point speculating. Suffice to say, if the risk is indeed present, we need to eliminate the Warrior directly, which is what the Vault Hunters are doing now."

His employer was silent for the longest time. Finally, in a resigned voice, Seidin spoke again.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

With that, he hung up. The spy chuckled dryly to himself as he put the receiver away.

"What a joke. My plans never fail."

…

Tusya Seidin threw his communicator at the wall in frustration, where it shattered into tiny, sparking fragments. From across the room, Antonia Tolstoi folded her arms in worry.

"Well?"

The Generalissimus growled in annoyance.

"He says he has it under control."

Clearly this was not what the lady wanted to hear as her brow furrowed in concern. Her husband stepped forwards, addressing his commander.

"Should we prepare for a planetary bombardment?"

Seidin was silent for a while before shaking his head.

"That will probably bankrupt the entire company. No… that is not what needs to be done right now. We'll just have to trust in that idiot's convoluted plans."

The man stood from his seat behind a large wooden desk.

"How's our occupation of the Eden-5 branch?"

Michael answered, glancing at a packet of papers he was holding.

"Completed several hours ago. Our ambassadors are working with the government and explaining the situation. Of course, it's been a bit longer than originally planned. It appears that Hyperion's corruption ran into the political scene as well."

Seidin nodded at this, staring out the window at the battle-scarred lobby below the office of the former branch CEO.

"Get all available troops ready. We leave for Eden-6 at 1300 hours."

Michael looked questioningly at the man.

"Sir?"

Their Generalissimus turned, face grim.

"Even if it's the slightest risk, we have to see that it is taken care of. If the team on Eden-6 is not prepared, our campaign efforts may become wasted."

The husband and wife pair saluted and exited the room, leaving Seidin to plan their course.

…

'If there is a Hell, this is it.'

Maya made this decision as she dove behind a rock, a jet of flames blasting past where she stood. The team had made little progress and all attacks on the gargantuan beast seemed to do next to nothing. From its defensive movements, they had narrowed its weak point to its stone-encapsulated chest, but the beast attacked so quickly and so viciously they barely had enough time to whittle away at the protective shell. To top it all off, the Warrior liked to dive into the lava, which would then upset the local fauna, forcing several volcanic crystalisks to alight on the summoning altar. The combination of both these crystal beasts and the Warrior forced the Vault Hunters to spend most of their time defending or seeking cover. Frustrated, the Siren began firing blindly at the looming monster.

"What are you doing! Get back!"

Axton reached over and yanked her back as another jet of flame blew past.

"Calm down! We'll find a way!"

Maya looked a bit angry as she fired again, this time from behind proper cover.

"How?! If you haven't noticed, we're barely scratching the thing! It's too damn big!"

A loud explosion nearby marked the fifth destruction of Deathtrap. The mechromancer ducked behind the cover Axton and Maya were using. There was a nervous grin on her face as she tried to lighten the mood.

"Well, I'm out of ideas. Can we run now?"

Across the way, Salvador was similarly pinned down. He called over to the three.

"I dunno what to do!"

Axton frowned, thinking hard. The creature was simply too big to take down. The rock formation that was their cover shook. It was only a matter of time before it crumbled and they were left in the open. If they could only uncover that weak spot, they might have a shot. But when could they…

"Axton!"

Maya's sharp voice broke the soldier's train of thought. The man glowered and responded snappishly.

"I'm thinking goddamit! I don't know what we CAN do!"

Stubbornly, the Siren argued back.

"Well think harder!"

A gunshot stopped their argument cold. Next to Salvador, Zer0 glared at the bickering duo. Sure, the Warrior was tough and seemingly indestructible. But there was a pattern. For one who spent much of his life fighting against colossal monsters, the assassin could see there was some consistency in the creature's movements. After all, no matter how big the cavern was, the beast could only move so much. Zer0 hoisted a Valdof sniper rifle and readied himself, he would need its high rate of fire. He waved at the others, gesturing for them to follow his lead. The others were confused, of course, but seeing how little progress they were making, they decided to give whatever he was planning a shot. Then, the Warrior reared out of the lava, head tilted back and bellowing to the heavens.

"NOW!"

That command was all they needed. In an organized assault, they broke cover and aimed at the exposed chest of the Warrior. Bullets quickly chipped away, causing the beast to scream in pain. They could hear Jack yelling desperately over the gunfire.

"Protect your chest Warrior! Come on!"

But the combined firepower concentrated on a single area was too much. The beast thrashed and swayed, but he Vault Hunters continued their onslaught. Its armored shell burst open and a torrent of magma poured out. Seizing his opportunity, Salvador whipped out both launcher again.

"Sonrie, cabrón…"

Twin missiles rocketed towards the exposed cavity. Even as they flew, the other continued to attack with everything they had. The massive creature shrieked as the two explosives collided with its chest, sending the creature slamming against the cavern walls. The Warrior cried out again, this time in a lower moan. It struggled forward, attempting to dive back into the lava. In that moment, Zer0 reloaded and help the trigger of the Vladof rifle. A stream of high impact, .50 caliber rounds collided with the now oozing cavity. There was a moment of hesitation, and then the beast fell forward with a ground-shaking thud.

"NOOO! IMPOSSIBLE! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

From the confines of the Eridium shield, Jack screamed out. He pounded bloody hands against the shell, unable to break out to aid the dying alien creature. Unnoticed by the others, a certain Siren had finally arrived on and was now watching the scene play out from the shadows of a broken pillar. She sighed softly in relief as Lilith stirred and eventually pushed herself into a sitting position. Glancing around, the older Siren stared in awe at the fallen creature, which was now breathing heavily.

"Holy shit. I think you killed it! Never hurts to make sure, though. Hit that button on the moon-shot console."

She gestured towards the nearby collection of machinery. Jack watched in horror as the small, red-headed girl rushed forward and slammed a clenched fist onto a button on the command console. A full metal shell dropped in from the atmosphere with an ominous whine, slamming into the base of the Warrior's skull. After a few nervous seconds, the beast fell silent and stopped moving.

"NO!"

In that same instant, the shields surrounding the Vault Key fell and the injured president stumbled forward a few steps. He looked up to find that everyone had turned their attention to him. The man struggled to stand, backing away from the group. He was still bleeding. The drying blood was beginning to stain his clothes badly, giving the fabric a look of rust. For the first time in the entire battle, his eyes were tinged with a hint of fear.

"No, no, no… I can't die like this… not when I'm so close… and not at the hands of a FILTHY BANDIT!"

Axton's face darkened as the man revealed a different side of himself. Gone was the confident, ruthless leader, replaced by a smaller man, afraid of what was to come. The bleeding man continued.

"See, I could've saved this planet! See, I could've actually restored order! And I wasn't supposed to die by the hands of a child-killing psychopath!"

From her hiding place, Angel bit her lip in worry. His words struck something in her, dredging up feelings she had quashed long ago. It seemed her death had affected the man more than they were lead to believe.

It reminded her of her mother's death.

She knew Jack had changed that day, irrevocably into something less than human. He no longer smiled, save for the occasional condescending sneer. He no longer laughed, unless it was to mock the fallen. His mind had become consumed with the desire to find the Vault.

But for what?

Power?

Fame?

This quandary had confused the young Siren to this day. Why had he gone through all this trouble? She wondered if she would ever learn the answer. The man she once called Father was half crazed at this point, spittle flying as he shouted at his enemies.

"You are all savages! You're all maniacs! You're just bandits AND I AM THE GODDAMN HERO!"

By this time, Lilith had managed to stand and was now staring coldly at the injured man, energy crackling in her clenched fist.

"…The Warrior was practically a GOD! How… how in the hell have you killed my Warrior?!"

A half crazed laugh bubbled up from his throat.

"You idiots! The Warrior could have brought peace to this planet! No more dangerous creatures! No more bandits! Pandora… it could have been a PARADISE!"

The infuriated Siren stepped forward, her voice dripping with hate.

"That's it. I've heard enough."

Panicking, Jack swiped a hand at the approaching woman.

"NO! Get the hell away from me!"

That was it. Jack was getting what he deserved. For his heinous crimes, he would have to die. She watched as Jack backed up, tripped, and cowered before the Siren. Lilith's powers were spilling out, a faint outline of wings beginning to form on her back. But even as Angel watched the scene, a small voice in her head questioned what she saw.

'Is this right?'

Angel frowned, confused at this sudden little thought. Indignant that she would consider such a question, she countered this thought.

'He tortured me for ten years! Ten years I lived in absolute misery! Can anyone truly say he doesn't deserve to die?'

That same nagging voice in her head pushed on.

'But he's your father.'

Angel shook her head.

'He stopped being my father when he tossed me in that chamber.'

The voice spoke again, more quietly this time in the corners of her mind.

'But can you watch your father die?'

Time seemed to stretch on forever. Lilith seemed to be frozen, hand raised to execute the man she hated most. Angel's friends looked like statues, gazing stonily at the sinful man. He was everything she despised. He was the embodiment of her misery. He had stolen her childhood, ruined a good decade of her life. She did everything to get his approval. She stole for him, she killed for him. She should have had every right to be the executioner.

But…

But that thought stayed, unshaken by her own reasoning, fueled by the most basic of her beliefs. She simply couldn't let him die. The man most deserving of death was still, in spite of his crimes, her father. She hated herself for it, for what she was about to do. Angel let out a breath she had been unconsciously holding. Her hands felt clammy as she steeled herself for what she was about to do. Several meters away, Lilith was beginning to move again.

She stepped out from the shadows.

"Wait! Don't kill him!"

…

A/N: Guh. Busy busy busy. Was the Warrior battle too short? Maybe. Oh well.

Thanks go to my old friend who's currently slaving away in med school, who stayed up late to help me edit the last bit of this chapter.

See you next week.


	15. Rejecting

A/N: Chugging along. Major delays since I just couldn't get parts of this chapter to sound right. This chapter ended up with well over 6000 words, a 150% jump from what I normally do. Hope you enjoy it.

All hail **med school friend that wants to remain anonymous**, I'll need to buy him lunch or something after all this help.

Fun Fact: The beginning scene was planned and roughly drafted back around the time of Chapter 3 or 4.

Fun Fact 2: About half of the notes I jot down for later use were used in this chapter.

**Important Note**: This was a massive chapter, I'm going to take a break next week to try to get my notes in order. The last couple chapters are a lot less planned out than the earlier portions of this story.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 14 – Rejecting

It was amazing how quiet an inactive volcano could become.

The natural groan of the mountain seemed to have ceased; the lava flowed on silently. The air was still and stale, only the hint of sulfur an indication that they were still in the idle magma chamber. Even the circling rakk seemed to have vanished completely. In that silence, Angel could hear her heart pounding away in her ears. Standing there facing her friends, she felt increasingly uncomfortable under their incredulous stares.

In confusion, Lilith had lowered her hand and was now gazing upon the young Siren, mouth slightly open. Maya looked similarly confused and slightly betrayed. Her brow was furrowed, eyes narrowed in displeasure. Next to her, Axton's body language betrayed no emotions. He merely stared upon the developing debacle, a calculating look in his eyes. Angel watched as his left hand drifted surreptitiously down to help tilt the barrel of his assault rifle to a more favorable position.

Furthest from the group, Zer0 stood with that same blank look he always wore. Though he had shouldered his rifle, his body remained tense. Though he faced her, she couldn't tell if he was staring at her or at the pitiful wretch she was protecting. For a moment, Angel wondered what he thought of her now.

Would he think her mad?

Stupid?

Behind her, she heard Jack's labored breathing catch as he murmured her name in disbelief.

"Angel…?"

But her attention was drawn away from the injured man as the Lilith stepped forward, a disbelieving look in her eyes.

"Angel!"

Lilith's brain finally caught up to what had happened. Here was a supposedly dead girl standing in front of the woman's greatest enemy. The tension dissipated from the older Siren's body as she rushed forward to hug the smaller girl. Stars danced in front of Angel's eyes as she choked out a few words.

"Lilith… can't… breathe…!"

Lilith pulled back, face slightly red. Inhaling huge gulps of air, Angel shook her head. The Hyperion President nearby was all but forgotten by everyone save for two people. Axton now had his weapon pointed casually at the injured man, eyes watching for movement. Zer0 remained motionless, but continued to keep watch on the entire scene with a practiced calm. But the man didn't appear to going anywhere. Once did he struggle to stand, but soon staggered before falling sideways onto the stone platform. This small disturbance was barely noticed by the others.

Lilith now appraised the girl before her with an amused grin on her face.

"Fine. I'll leave it to you then."

Angel looked warily at the older Siren.

"Huh?"

Lilith chuckled softly, placing a hand on Angel's shoulder.

"If anyone deserves to kill this son of a bitch, it should be you."

The older Siren smiled broadly, gesturing to the man lying on his side behind Angel. Angel grew still. Lilith watched expectantly even as the younger Siren's mind raced.

'I…'

Her throat felt dry.

'I deserve this?'

She swallowed hard, not quite clearing the lump in her throat that prevented her from answering. Her eyes drifted past the red-haired Siren towards her teammates, who had varying degrees of anticipation on their faces. Salvador, for one, looked rather excited. Angel got the feeling that he wanted to see Jack die, regardless of the method. Whereas Gaige watched this same, strange development with a frown on her face. The girl looked rather restless as she shifted from one foot to the other.

Angel's eyes inadvertently drifted towards the masked assassin towards the back of the group. As she watched him, a memory came to mind, words that he told her a while back.

"_You spent years enslaved by a man who, no matter how badly he treated you, was your father."_

Angel continued to watch the assassin's blank face.

'Was that really the entire reason?'

She thought back to her childhood, or at least what she remembered of it. Back before becoming Jack's tool, back before the empty isolation chamber, back before the accident that had taken her mother's life. Once upon a time, she had two parent who worked hard, who worried that something was truly wrong with their daughter and had done everything in their to fix it.

But they could never fix it, because nothing was broken to begin with.

Was that it then? Did all this start when she was born a Siren? Did innocents die on Pandora because she led Jack here to compete with Atlas? From what she heard, Atlas left people well alone if they didn't interfere with their operations, whereas Jack simply tore through everything to get to his goal.

If she had a part in all this, who was she to say Jack deserved death more than she herself did?

Angel tore her eyes off the man and turned her focus back on the Siren in front of her. Lilith was now staring at her with some impatience.

"Well?"

Once again, Angel felt her throat close up.

'I can't just kill my own father like this…'

Finally, Angel shook her head.

"I won't do it."

Lilith's smile was fading fast.

"If you don't do it, I will."

Voice cold, Lilith stared at the dying man with nothing but hatred. Angel thought fast.

"Lock him up. Life in prison is a much more prolonged punishment, don't you think?"

Lilith didn't appear remotely convinced. The older Siren cracked her knuckles.

"It might be a quick death for him, but I can think of several ways to prolong my own enjoyment…"

Angel shook her head stubbornly.

"I don't want him dead."

The red-haired Siren threw up her hands in frustration.

"Are you out of your freakin' mind?!"

Lilith was beginning to look quite irate at the loss of her prey, still blocked by the petite Siren.

"Have you forgotten what he did to you?!"

Undeterred, Angel stood her ground. She decided on a believable excuse.

"I know. I want him to suffer the same way."

Well, at least it was better than her original reasoning of "I'd feel bad." Angel doubted Lilith would be too happy to hear such words. As Angel stared the older Siren down, Lilith sighed and relented a little, all the while shaking her head.

"I don't think I'll ever understand you, kiddo."

Lilith turned away, unwilling to look at Jack any longer.

"Fine. Do what you want."

Angel relaxed ever so slightly. The older woman half turned, barely looking at her.

"You owe me an explanation, y…"

Her eyes widened in shock as she turned fully and crouched, ready to attack.

…

_It would be over soon._

_As that Siren moved closer, Jack knew his life was forfeit._

_But then something appeared. Some slip of a girl ran in front of his would-be executioner, blocking the way. Jack had no idea who it was, but he didn't care._

_Ever calculating, the moment his execution was interrupted, Jack began looking for a way out. Sure, his wounds burned, but he knew he would be okay if he made it to the moon base's medical bay within the next thirty minutes. His eyes darted over his surroundings, looking for anything that might help him escape._

_He found what he was looking for: the innocent looking Hyperion repeater._

_Modified by his hands, it had the capability to pierce any shield it was properly tuned to. That alone in addition to the gun's extraordinary projectile speed made it single-handedly the most valuable weapon in Jack's arsenal. He concentrated, listening only to recognize that Lilith was preoccupied before faking an attempt to stand and allowed himself to fall right onto the weapon. Then he waited._

_It was almost too perfect, really._

_He had a weapon, and the strange girl that sound strangely similar to his deceased daughter would soon provide him a way out. If it didn't hurt so much, Jack would have laughed. If that girl was impersonating his late daughter, the Vault Hunters would likely do anything to save her. And if for some bizarre reason it was truly his daughter, well, it would really show what a naïve fool the girl was. Naïve, but useful._

_So Jack bided his time, barely listening to the argument the two women were having._

_Then, when the others took their attention off him, he acted._

…

Lilith's behavior was alarming indeed. But before Angel could ask what was the matter, she felt an arm wrap tightly around her neck, drawing her backwards. Through her clothes, she felt something sticky and wet – she recognized it as blood.

Her father's blood.

There was a maniacal laugh as the cold barrel of Jack's custom pistol was suddenly aimed at her head.

"Did you know the Hero always wins?"

Angel froze as that familiar voice spoke uncomfortably close behind her. Jack let out a bark of laughter.

"Idiots! Should've killed me when you had the chance!"

He moved, trying to put a bit of distance between him and the group. Axton advanced, weapon now fully aimed at Jack. Despite her panic, Angel noted he looked guilty. Did he blame himself for her plight? The soldier snarled as his finger hovered over the trigger of his weapon.

"You're sick. Using your own daughter as a bargaining chip?"

At his words, Jack laughed even harder.

"Daughter? DAUGHTER?!"

Angel cringed as flecks of spittle landed on the back of her neck. He continued inching away, pressing the barrel of the gun into the young Siren's temple.

"I don't know what kind of sick little games you're all playing, but if you want this girl to live, you better BACK OFF!"

Lilith's expression didn't change. Angel wondered if she would simply kill both of them and be done with it. Maya, on the other hand, looked a bit confused by Jack's words. Her hands were on her weapon, yet she seemed hesitant to raise it completely.

Salvador's teeth were bared. He had his shotgun up and was advancing, a menacing look in his eyes.

"¡Suéltela, cabrόn! O juro por Dios…"

As Angel watched the Vault Hunters frozen by indecision , an ear-splitting gunshot broke the tension and a sniper rifle bullet collided with something just in front of Angel. Particles fell and dissipated as Jack's emergency shields fell. All heads swiveled to stare at the shooter. Still standing several paces away, Zer0 had his rifle aimed at Jack. Jack immediately retreated further behind Angel, using her as a shield. There was no way to hit Jack – the limited space along with a rifle's recoil destroyed any hopes of precision shooting from such a distance.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then, narrowing her eyes, Angel watched as the assassin's outline seemed to flicker, ever so slightly. Even as this realization hit her, the hologram vanished and she heard the sound of running coming from the right. Both she and Jack turned to see a thoroughly pissed-off assassin running towards them. A much more maneuverable, azure blade shimmered in the light from the molten lava. Her moment of relief was shattered as she felt herself accelerate. With a desperate yell, Jack used all his strength to force her into the path of the blade. Her eyes widened as the blade descended.

And then, it stopped.

Even though it was entirely in his power to cut the both of them down, even though Angel might have been reborn through the New-U station, even though he longed for vengeance on the man who opened the Vault without a care for the consequences, Zer0 hesitated. He couldn't cut the young Siren down.

That moment of hesitation was all Jack needed.

The modified Hyperion repeater came up and, without a moment to spare, Jack fired. Caught off guard, Zer0 took the full brunt of the blow on his helmet and flew back several meters.

As he lay there, unmoving, time seemed to slow to a crawl.

"ZER0!"

…

Tusya Seidin stood in front of the Vladof Liberation Front.

"I trust you all understand the urgency of the situation. We can wait no longer. Their main headquarters MUST be taken today."

The soldiers stood at attention in the cargo bay of the large shipping freighter that had just landed on Eden-6. Michael and Antonia Tolstoi stood near the front, faces impassive, masking their worry.

"Follow me, men! Justice will prevail!"

Seidin turned and activated the high-capacity Fast Travel behind him, transporting himself and a dozen other to the Hyperion lobby. Seidin didn't hesitate as he strode purposefully towards the counter. They were met by a rather pudgy looking man, who scowled upon seeing them.

"Vladof! Get out of here you communist sc…"

A single bullet through the forehead cut him off as his body crumpled lifelessly to the floor. There were screams as civilians and workers began to flee the building. By this time, two more squads of soldiers had moved into the lobby and were now setting up a primary line of defense.

Hyperion's security never stood a chance.

…

The Vault Hunters remained on the summoning altar in the heart of the inactive volcano, deep within the Eridium Blight. After all, how could they follow when they didn't know the destination? Jack had seized that moment of victory over the fallen assassin and had ordered an emergency evacuation. Taking Angel, where he went was anybody's guess. With that road blocked, the Vault Hunters were now more interested in their fallen comrade.

Or rather, their fallen, now helmetless, comrade.

The force of the gunshot at pointblank had knocked the sniper back several meters to where he now lay unmoving, his armor streaked with volcanic ash. During the fall, his helmet had been broken off. It now lay nearby, screen cracked and sparking every so often. The Vault Hunters were reduced to staring at the white-haired man uncertainly, as if seeing him for the first time. Subconsciously, they knew it was Zer0, but his appearance had thrown them all for a loop. Gaige, the newest to the group, felt less of this awkwardness and was currently by his side, trying to wake him. She barely noticed the others' uncertainty. Eventually, the unmasked assassin groaned, blinking his eyes blearily.

"Ugh… what…"

He sat up suddenly, body alert, as he glanced around. His breath caught in his throat as he noticed the missing persons.

"Angel…"

Gaige tapped the man on the arm, flinching when he whirled to stare at her with those eerie eyes. Gingerly, the young mechromancer held out his broken mask. For a moment, Zer0 simply stared. Then his eyes widened slightly – he realized he was no longer masked. His face grew angry as whatever feelings of discomfort were quashed. He threw the helmet aside with a growl, earning a small squeak from the young girl kneeling nearby. The broken piece of armor landed bounced off the rock floor and landed with a soft plop in the lake of lava. Gaige remained kneeling, a wary look on her face. The white-haired man ran a hand across his face, letting out a long sigh.

"Where's Jack?"

His unfiltered voice sounded foreign to the group and it was a few moments before they realized he had spoken. Most didn't even realize it was him without his customary haiku. Gaige remained the most undeterred.

"He left… he took Angel with him."

Zer0 scowled.

"Bastard…"

He tried to stand, but soon swayed before sitting back down, massaging his temples. Axton stepped forward, finally getting over the shock of Zer0's outlandish appearance.

"You alright?"

The assassin glared up at the soldier, who shuddered slightly as those reptilian eyes seemed to pierce his body. Zer0 turned away.

"No. I believe I have a concussion."

Axton frowned as he crouched down next to Zer0.

"Well, you did get shot in the face. Here, drink this and try not to move too much for now."

He handed Zer0 a canteen of water and the man drank gratefully. Axton looked at the ground, shamefaced.

"I should've been more attentive…"

Zer0 examined the crestfallen soldier with some interest before shaking his head dismissively. Still a ways off, Maya fidgeted anxiously before speaking.

"We have to go after them…"

Lilith turned away, kicking at the ground angrily.

"Stupid girl. We should have just killed that son of a bitch."

Zer0 stared blandly at the angry Siren.

"I doubt she would have let you in any case."

Frowning, Lilith turned back to the man sitting on the floor.

"And why not? He used her as a weapon, a tool!"

Zer0 let out a sigh, leaning back against a nearby pillar.

"Have you ever seen her initiate an attack?"

Lilith looked confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The white-haired man shook his head.

"I noticed she only attacks if she's attacked first. She never seemed to accept killing as readily as some of us do."

As he said 'some of us', the man gestured at the gathered Vault Hunters before continuing.

"And…"

The assassin paused, as if contemplating. Lilith felt unreleased tension building up – she really didn't have the patience to be sitting around when Jack was still out there.

"And?"

The man raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the moody Siren.

"Some part of her may still long for her family… She mentioned she spent a decade or so in that chamber. I am unsure if any of the feelings from her childhood truly disappeared."

Lilith ran a hand through her hair, turning away with a frustrated sigh.

"Dammit…"

The red-haired Siren kept her back turned to the group. It was at that time Mordecai and Brick came rushing into the scene, panting hard. The sniper brightened up as he saw his friend, now free of any Eridium bonds.

"Lilith! You're okay!"

Then he noticed the sullen faces and the angry-looking, white haired man sitting on the stone floor. He glanced back over at his Siren friend.

"Did… we miss something?"

…

Angel landed hard on linoleum tiles. She heard Jack hiss in pain as he struggled to remain standing. Slowly, she pushed herself up, looking around as she did. They were in an old office, possibly abandoned. With a jolt, she realized it was Jack's old office. The one he had when he was just an engineer sent out on the hopeless mission to scout for resources on Pandora. He must have keyed his emergency transport location to this room.

The man stared at the young girl, a peculiar look on his face: not quite disbelief, yet a bit of anger as well.

His wounds were still open and the soft drip of blood echoed in the empty room. Eyes wide and bloodshot, Jack looked like he had been through hell and back. Even as he stood there, his limbs trembled, indicating he was teetering on the brink of unconsciousness. She took a step forward and stopped as the barrel of the Hyperion repeater came up to aim at her. A raspy voice growled out from the man standing before her.

"What the hell are you playing at?"

Angel took a step back, eyeing the weapon warily.

"Jack…"

The man leaned heavily against the only desk in the room. Angel could see his hand shaking from blood loss, his skin was ghostly white. Yet he refused to fall. He had too much pride for that. The Siren tried again, though her voice wavered a bit. Something about his wild, bedraggled appearance made her pause. He was like an injured animal, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation.

"Dad…"

Even as she spoke that single word, it felt wrong. She had called him that exactly once in recent years and that was before she died for the first time. That little feeling caused her to pause. In front of her, the bleeding man chuckled as if he'd heard something funny. That small chuckle slowly turned into a roaring laugh.

And then, as soon as it had started, it had stopped, the man's face twisting into a feral snarl as he bellowed.

"I've had ENOUGH of your LIES!"

Angel's body tensed as the man continued.

"You think this is funny? Pretending to be my daughter? What exactly do you think my daughter did, huh? You think she lived with that filth?"

Jack let out a laugh, which turned into a hacking cough. He spat a mass of congealed blood onto the pale floor and sneered at Angel.

"Though, I guess, a murderer like her would've fit in well with those filthy bandits."

She realized it now.

All those years, she had sought his acceptance, his approval. He never struck her, never physically or verbally abused her in anyway. The most he ever did was block her access to the Hyperion Network, which often felt like a nasty shock as her consciousness was ripped out of whichever system she had been forbidden to access. But somehow she never really associated that pain with Jack. Perhaps she had spent too much time in cyberspace to pin the blame on her father. Perhaps she subconsciously blamed the firewalls and the techs who implemented them on Jack's command.

No, he never really lifted a finger against her.

Instead, he had simply locked her away and used her as he saw fit, keeping her isolated, yet allowing her to retain use of her powers. Powers that he used for himself. And she had happily complied. There was no just explanation for his actions. He had merely done it all for the sake of pure revenge. Vengeance on those that wronged him, vengeance on the powers that produced the Sirens, vengeance on her.

To avenge his dead wife, he would destroy everything that had caused her death, starting with the Vaults and the Sirens.

Somewhere in the depths of her soul, locked in that lonely isolation chamber, that same young, helpless little girl cried. Cried for her mommy who she had accidentally killed. Cried for the world she could never see. Cried as she longed for her daddy's embrace, for her daddy to tell her everything would be alright.

Those words would never come.

Those words could never come, not from him. Not from the bleeding, half-crazed man that now stood before her. He would kill himself before admitting that putting his own daughter in isolation was his fault. She mustered up one sentence, filled with a decade of repressed emotions.

"I hate you."

Jack sneered at the girl in front of him. He seemed to have completely forgotten about his wounds.

"I don't care."

He spat out more blood, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving a smear across his mask.

"You know why? Because you're not my daughter. Because my DAUGHTER was killed by BANDITS! Because YOU are nothing more than a SICK FREAK OF AN IMPOSTER!"

In a moment of thoughtless rage, Angel's hand flashed out and a loud slap echoed in the empty Hyperion office. That slap was followed by a soft clatter, the sound of something falling to the ground.

Her eyes flicked back to glare at the man before widening in horror.

…

"_So that's the guy we're after? I've heard about him. Man, what's his problem anyway?"_

_A Hyperion guard by the name of Chet took a long drag from his cigarette as he stared at the small man shuffling down the street in the rain. He didn't want to be here, not when he could be at home relaxing with a nice bottle of scotch and a good book. The man exhaled as his partner responded._

"_I dunno man; Xanders has always been a bit crazy. Fanatical even. Great engineer from what I hear, but quite loopy."_

_His partner, a former mercenary named Lane, shook his head as he meticulously cleaned his pistol. Chet glanced over at the man. He was agreeable enough, albeit a bit taciturn. It was always a bit of a mystery why the highly trained man never took a position higher than normal guard duties. Chet frowned as he spoke again, eyes never leaving the man who was clutching a briefcase as if it were a newborn child._

"_Yeah, but the reports say he's a bit more than that…"_

_Lane hummed in agreement. The ex-mercenary flipped through the nearby orders to a specific page, eyes scanning it as his hands reassembled his weapon with a practiced precision._

"_Did you see what he's been working on? Crazy, I tell you."_

_Chet laughed mirthlessly. As he spoke, the door to the small room opened and another man walked in._

"_Of course. He interrupted another one of the Boss's meetings today."_

_Lane flipped the file shut, a scowl on his face._

"_Pathetic. Is that why we're doing this?"_

_Several meters away, an important-looking man cleared his throat. This man was Robert, the current vice president of Hyperion. He smirked as he gestured to the two guards._

"_Of course. His little stunt caused an important merger to go belly-up. The President is sick of his behavior. It's time he learned his place in our humble business."_

_The two guards stood and followed the vice president out of the room. They entered an unmarked vehicle and drove towards the man. As they neared, the twitchy man seemed to notice something as he glanced behind and began to run. Unfortunately for him, there was little he could do to outrun a car. The vehicle matched his pace as one of the back doors burst open. A pair of hands reached out and yanked him into the car, John's face colliding with the doorframe in the process. Dazed, the engineer could feel blood dripping down his right cheek._

_After a few moments of driving, he was forced out of the car and into an abandoned warehouse where he was immediately chained to a chair. The two guards beat him mercilessly for a few minutes before stepping back. Robert stepped forward, tossing John's briefcase to the ground, where it burst open. A worn laptop and many papers spilled out, scattering across the dusty floors. John finally regained his senses._

"_What the HELL do you think you're doing?!"_

_The vice president smiled thinly._

"_John Xanders. You were one of our best engineers, you know?"_

_John spat out some blood before responding._

"_What does that have to do with anything?"_

_A polished boot lashed out viciously, causing the engineer's head to snap backwards._

"_You're out of line, Xanders. You waste company resources, interrupt meetings, mess up deals – we've had it with your behavior."_

_Robert stepped back, one bloodied shoe leaving an imprint on a nearby paper._

"_Get your filthy shoes off my WORK!"_

_John was having trouble speaking through his injured jaw. Robert turned and glared at the bleeding engineer as one would stare at some offending insect. Another kick sent the old laptop skittering into a corner of the warehouse._

"_Looks like Mr. Xanders still doesn't understand."_

_The two guards pummeled his injured body until he was coughing up blood. The vice president stood watching the scene with an amused look in his eyes._

"_Not much a small man like yourself can do, huh?"_

_Stubbornly, John struggled on._

"_I swear to GOD if you touch those files…"_

_Unconcerned, Robert lit a cigarette and dropped the match onto the scattered papers. They immediately caught fire and, within seconds, were little more than charred papers and ash. John lost it then._

"_YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'M GONNA…."_

_His words were cut off as a fist collided with his jaw. Robert stared down at the broken man._

"_Grow up, Xanders. There are no fairy tales here. Hyperion doesn't need naïve little children screwing up everything."_

_Disoriented, John could only mutter incoherently._

"_No… no, no, no… It's real… I know it's real…"_

_Robert leaned down, leaning in conspiratorially. His breath stank of nicotine as he whispered into Johns ear._

"_Of course it is, John. Obviously your lack of evidence is all we need to send people off to look for your Vault."_

_John's head snapped up, a wild look in his eyes._

"_It's real! IT'S REAL!"_

_The Hyperion vice president didn't respond. Rather, he stood, walking off to the side where there was a medium-sized furnace plugged into the wall._

"_We got you a present, Johnny-boy. Now you can always be close to that Vault you've been lusting after."_

_Wearing a heat-resistant glove, the man withdrew a brand from the furnace in the shape of an upside-down V. The metal was glowing white, barely shifting to red around the edges. The vice president brought the brand closer and the smell of steel filled John's nostrils._

"_Amazing what we can make at Hyperion."_

_He traced the smoking brand through the air like a conductor's baton._

"_Tantalum hafnium carbide… cost me a pretty penny to make, but it'll work up to four thousand kelvins."_

_He began moving back towards John._

"_Pity we don't have the time to heat it up that much… we'll have to make do with just six hundred."_

_The vice president was barely a meter away now. John's eyes were dancing in terror as he screamed out apprehensively._

"_Stop! STOP IT!"_

_But his pleas fell on deaf ears as Robert drew closer, the two guards gazing upon the scene in indifference. The vice president grinned broadly._

"_Smile, John. You got your wish."_

_John twisted his head, straining his limbs as he tried to move away from the incoming brand. But the ropes held, As the searing hot iron pressed against his face, John could only scream and scream. As his world darkened, he thought of his wife and everything he had done in his futile attempt to forget her. Everything melded into white hot pain. As he fell unconscious from the pain, he swore his tormentors would pay for what they did._

_And, years later, when he personally saw to the 'accidents' that resulted in their 'unfortunate' deaths, he would finally smile like Robert had asked._

…

An ugly scar marred Jack's face. The tilted, off-center Vault Symbol ran across the man's disfigured visage, the scar tissue screwing his mouth and eyes into a permanent scowl. Realization hit her – that scar was the reason he had began wearing that mask when she was eleven. Unconsciously, she backpedaled until she bumped into the wall behind her. The mutilated man advanced, an insane grin spreading across his face.

"Take a good look, bandit. All your greed leads to this. Funny huh?"

He closed the distance between them, two meters, now one. He was laughing now, the muscles of his face pulling unevenly against his scar.

"You just couldn't let it be. You HAD to push me, HAD TO SCREW IT ALL UP!"

Angel barely noticed the man was right in front of her now, eyes still locked onto that horrific scar.

"I'll get another Siren. I can wait. There were two Vaults here? There's bound to be more out there. And this time? You bandits won't be able to stop me at all."

With that, he fired.

Angel was thrown back against the wall as a burning fire spread from the middle of her abdomen. In that moment, she understood. Her father died long ago, died the day she inadvertently killed her mother. The being before her was simply a shell of a man, consumed by hate and rage, intent on destroying until there was nothing left.

And now, he would destroy her, the most prominent reminder of his past.

She hated it, hated being a puppet forced to kill for him, forced to die for him. She reached out and grasped Jack's throat. Delirious with blood-loss, the man laughed.

"Don't bother, bandit. No one will miss you."

Angel turned her face towards his, eyes shining with hateful tears. She drew upon her powers, letting them overflow explosively. Twin wings of light exploded from her back as energy crackled around her very body. Jack's eyes widened in realization.

"No… LET GO!"

He aimed the pistol into the young Siren's stomach and began firing wildly. Angel was hardly fazed. Jack was screaming incoherently now as he tried desperately to get away. Alarm bells rang in the girl's mind, warning her that she was going too far, that her body wouldn't be able to handle the discharge. She ignored it all as she focused on the target of all her sorrows. The twin wings of light flapped once, creating a current of burning air before enveloping the pair in pure light. Jack's screams reached a new pitch as his skin began to char and flake.

And she let the energy surge.

She poured all her emotions into that energy discharge: all the years of loneliness, all the hopes and dreams she had forgone in her imprisonment, all the resentment she had for the man she once called Father. Energy coursed through her body, its electric whine drowning out all noise.

The bandage she habitually wrapped around her left arm crumbled away, the heat emanating from her markings now shining a blinding white. She barely noticed that the pistol had stopped firing. She simply focused on Jack's screams, willing her body to do everything to prolong the man's agony.

Jack's strangled cry fell short as their entwined bodies fell apart, landing heavily on the cold office floor.

…

"Come on people! MOVE IT!"

Soldiers of the VLF flooded the building, taking every security checkpoint as they did. Floor by floor, the luxurious headquarters of the Hyperion Corporation were seized and placed under military control. Tusya Seidin remained with the front lines, never flinching, never retreating.

On the fifth floor, he found the room he was looking for.

Seidin commanded his troops to continue moving, keeping only a few men with him. He stepped towards a large science bay and the twin doors automatically opened to allow him access.

Within the large research area, men in white coats were running back and forth, panicked looks on each of their faces. Seidin frowned, wondering the cause of this disturbance. His eyes swept the room and alighted on a single man.

"Watch the door."

With that order, the Generalissimus stepped made his way over to the main area of the lab. Researchers and assistants yelled in annoyance as they were forced to maneuver around the powerful man.

"Doctor."

The older man barely looked at the Vladof commander.

"Not now, Seidin."

Tusya tried again.

"Doctor, it was necessary to move the plans forward. We need to move you to a safer location…"

The Doctor looked furious as he whirled on the uniformed man.

"I said, NOT NOW, SEIDIN!"

The commander's eyes widened slightly in surprise. In the many years Tusya Seidin had worked with the Doctor in their campaign, he had never seen the Doctor so much as raise his voice. That was one of his most useful traits, the ability to remain completely calm when under duress, when lying to Jack that he was there to partake in Hyperion's research. But in this moment, the Doctor appeared as frantic as the interns working triage back during the old Vladof Revolution. Seidin held his hands up in a placating manner and took a step back.

"Very well, Doctor. We'll keep guard on this room. I'll need to speak with you and your assistants when you are free."

Before Seidin had even finished, the Doctor had already stomped off, shouting out orders to his assistants. As he left, one of the assistants called out to the Doctor.

"Doctor! We're ready to go!"

The Doctor then nodded, turning towards a large monitor at the front of the room.

"Prepare the medical bay. We can't mess this up."

…

Cold.

She was so cold.

The prone figure of the young Siren shook violently as it trembled, trying to retain body heat. But it was no use, the blood continued to flow. She could feel her life ebbing away. The combined wounds and drain on her energy made it impossible to move. Her limbs twitched feebly as she tried.

There were no more second chances.

This death would be real.

The last time this had happened, she had been confident, even happy that she no longer had to live an enslaved life. But now? She wasn't too sure now.

Several meters away lay the charred figure of Handsome Jack. Face down, the man wasn't moving at all. Pain stabbed into her heart as she realized she had killed him.

She killed her own father.

It was a strange feeling. She felt that she would have been more upset. She should have been more upset. A week ago, she might have been. But now, as she lay bleeding out in that small Hyperion office, she couldn't will herself to shed one tear for what she had done. Angel let out a shuddering breath.

She felt rather empty.

Dying felt a bit different this time. Her vision blurred and it became harder to stay conscious. Nearby, the corpse of Jack appeared to shimmer through her hazy eyes. Confused, she blinked hard several times.

No.

The man really was phasing in and out of focus, almost like…

A chilling thought hit the dying girl.

Almost like deconstruction.

As this thought formed, the body of the man began to disappear in a stream of biological information and digital particles. Translucent squares rose up, disappearing into empty space as bit by bit Jack dissolved into nothingness. Each piece that disappeared reaffirmed that she had failed to kill the man.

"No…"

Angel struggled to move, to interrupt the terrible proceedings occurring not a meter away. But it was in vain. Her arms trembled and her body collapsed once again with a wet sound as she fell into a pool of her own blood. She could only watch in horror as the rest of the man vanished into thin air.

She was alone now.

Alone in this empty room, she was going to die.

Who knew if anyone would find her body?

Would her friends forget her?

Frightened, she tried once again to move and found that her limbs no longer responded to her commands.

Shivering, her eyelids drooped and her thoughts slowed.

'Zer0…'

She couldn't recall his face.

'Help…'

And that was her last thought before the darkness pressed in on her, rendering everything into blackness.

…

A/N: . . .

See you in two weeks.


	16. Passing

A/N: Getting close to the end, about three more chapters after this one. I'm gonna try something again in this chapter, just a different way of laying out the plot.

Note the dates if you want, they'll let you piece together what happened. I'll try to make everything as coherent as possible. Hopefully, the story will read fine with or without the dates, they just help keep things in perspective.

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 15 – Passing

**Post-War Day 7**:

And a week passed.

A week passed and some semblance of peace settled upon Pandora. Sure, bandit clans kept killing each other and occasionally raided the odd village or settlement, but that was seen as relatively normal compared to the once looming threat of a planetary genocide. People living in Sanctuary relaxed, some of them even venturing explorations off the floating city. The more daring individuals tried to make contact with other strongholds similar to Overlook.

It wasn't until the third day after the battle at Hero's Pass that Hyperion's absence was fully noticed. Several explorers snuck into Opportunity to look around and found it mostly abandoned. There were a couple loaders aimlessly milling about and, once they were taken care of, it was determined that they were no longer receiving orders from Hyperion. Word quickly spread and the few bandits that also made it in were quickly dispatched. Over the next three days, Opportunity rapidly became the capital of Pandora as those hiding from bandit clans or travelling in large caravans began to immigrate into the expansive city. The best part was it came mostly built! It didn't take much for what few engineers there were to figure out how to fix up the power and everyone else to finish building the living areas.

Regardless of the new, and rather luxurious, place to live, the shielded town of Overlook remained.

The townsfolk finally left their homes, stretching their aching limbs and running about. All in all, they were pretty happy to be free of any threats from Jack. But after a day or two, most of them realized that indoors was actually pretty nice, and many returned to spending a majority of their time inside. Oh, they could come out, of course. They just didn't want to do so.

Today, a familiar little girl sat precariously near the grinder, staring at the skies. Nearby, a baby stalker dozed idly in the grass. Its tail twitched as a butterfly landed on it, the thin blade slicing the insect into two even pieces. The girl sniffled slightly, rubbing at her eyes with a sleeve. The stalker glanced up at her human, but the girl ignored her companion before looking away.

"Come back soon, sis…"

…

**Post-War Day 3**:

Though a tentative peace had finally come, the Vault Hunters in Sanctuary remained wary and nervous.

With Jack supposedly gone, the Vault Hunters were initially at a loss as to what to do. On top of that, the Vault Key used its residual energy to project some kind of map, which seemed to indicate that there were plenty more Vaults both within the galaxy and beyond it.

The implications were chilling.

Should Jack come back, he could possibly find any number of those Vaults should he choose to. And the next time it happened, they probably wouldn't be so lucky.

Initially, after a full hour of arguing and debating on the summoning altar, they decided that they had no way of finding Angel or Jack short of storming the Hyperion moon base. And in their battle worn state, they would be quickly eliminated if they tried. Exhausted and strung out, the Vault Hunters simply slept and missed most of the changes occurring around Pandora. Most of them were unconscious for the better part of two days as the constant adrenaline in their bodies left them physically and mentally drained. Axton was first to recover, having been disciplined by the Dahl military. He was also the first to notice something awry.

Zer0, their white-haired companion, was missing.

Nobody knew when he left, his room appeared to be completely untouched. When the others finally woke, their reactions were somewhat mixed. Salvador suggested the man simply decided to leave as the hunt for the Vault was over. Axton agreed to some extent. The Vault Hunters stayed together to search for the Vault. They certainly weren't going to force anyone to stay. But both Maya and Gaige disagreed vehemently; they hadn't missed the man's reaction when he found out Angel was gone.

"Should we look for him?"

Axton considered the young mechromancer. He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

"Where would we even begin? Jack's still out there somewhere, no doubt. He's probably got Angel locked up again…"

Gaige frowned but didn't press the matter further. Maya looked like she wanted to say something, reconsidered, before slumping forward across the kitchen table.

Axton paced around, feeling restless, irritated, and, worst of all, completely useless. Jack was gone, at least from Pandora, but their victory didn't have the same sense of accomplishment as his Dahl missions. The way he saw it, there was only one way to proceed. It wasn't exactly the greatest of plans, but there weren't many other roads available at the moment. With a frustrated sigh, he turned back to his teammates.

"I do have a plan…"

Salvador looked up from his place on the couch, mild interest in his eyes. Axton nodded once before continuing.

"I want to attack the moon base. I think I could get some answers as to where Jack and Angel are. I'd really appreciate your help if you come too."

Maya looked up at the man. She gave him a small smile.

"The mission's hardly over… Jack's not dead, after all. I'm in."

Salvador nodded his approval.

"I still owe that puta a face full of buckshot."

Three Vault Hunters turned their attention to the mechromancer. Put on the spot, she suddenly looked rather uncomfortable. She scratched her head contemplatively.

"Well… fine. I want to see this through as well."

Axton gave her a small smile.

"Thanks, Gaige. I know we kinda dragged you into all this."

Gaige waved off his thanks.

"I'll be in Overlook if you need me."

The girl left the room. Axton turned back to the other two.

"I'll go tell the others… see if they want to come with."

Salvador waved a hand casually before relaxing on the couch with a new bottle of ale. Maya frowned at this behavior and got up as well.

"I'll be at Moxxi's."

Axton made his way over to the Crimson Raiders' Headquarters. As he approached the building, he noticed that nobody seemed to be around. Private Jessup was still at his usual spot. The soldier approached the Private and gestured at the building.

"Anyone home?"

Jessup shrugged.

"Aside from Dr. Tannis, no. They went to hold a funeral I think…"

As he said that, the man became rather somber before continuing.

"It's for Roland."

Axton nodded quietly. He gave the man a moment of peace before speaking up again.

"Any idea where?"

Jessup nodded.

"They said they were heading down near Overlook. Look around I guess? I don't think they'd be too far from the town."

Axton nodded his thanks and left for the Fast Travel Station. A few minutes later, he was standing in the center of Overlook. Nearby, Tina waved at him. Axton was somewhat disturbed by the tiny stalker lounging around in the grass but decided to ignore it when he learned that it was Tina's new pet. Gaige, who had also noticed his arrival, walked over.

"Is something wrong?"

Axton shook his head.

"I'm just looking for Lilith and the others. Wanted to give them a heads up. Have you seen them?"

Gaige shook her head.

"No one's passed through here except you and me."

Axton nodded.

"I'll look around then."

He began walking away before Gaige called out after him.

"Got a gun?"

Axton paused. He didn't bother bringing one since he thought the others would be close to Overlook. He turned and shook his head no. Gaige rummaged in her pack for a moment before tossing him one of her spare assault rifles.

"Thanks."

With that, Axton left. He was soon thankful for the gun Gaige gave him. Though he didn't encounter many stalkers – they seemed to have migrated from the area – there were still plenty threshers tunneling about. A quick tour of the Highlands found three people gathered near the north. They stood by the edge of a cliff, surrounding a medium-sized cross. It wasn't hard to figure out that it was the Vault Hunters mourning the loss of Roland. He jogged over to the trio. As he approached, Lilith noticed and turned around.

Axton paused.

The Siren was a mess. Lilith looked like she had spent the last few days moping. Her eyes were bloodshot, her skin looked clammy. It took her several seconds to realize it was Axton. Then she turned back around and resumed staring at the small, empty grave with a blank expression. Axton guessed she was too conflicted to function. Not only did she fail to see her hated enemy executed, she couldn't find it in her to blame Angel for what she did. The soldier cleared his throat before continuing.

"We're going to look for information on Jack…"

He briefly debated inviting them, but in the end decided against it.

"Just thought you'd like to know. We'll let you know what we find."

Without looking up, the Siren merely nodded. Mordecai looked over and gave Axton an apologetic shrug. The soldier simply nodded before leaving the three to their grieving. Axton made his way back to Overlook. Gaige looked up from the grass where she was petting the baby stalker and feeding it crumpets.

"Did you find them?"

Axton nodded and explained.

"I don't think they're in much shape to help us. Are you still okay if it's just us four?"

Gaige nodded.

"Yeah. Any idea how we're getting to the moon base?"

Axton considered this for a moment. Idly, he watched as the baby stalker batted at Gaige's prosthetic. Finally he answered.

"I think we could commandeer a ship… maybe from Hero's Pass? I'll go check it out."

Gaige stared at the soldier for a moment, ignoring the stalker that was now chewing on her prosthetic.

"Be careful."

Axton nodded and left via the Fast Travel Station.

…

**Post-War Day 2**:

Reptilian eyes opened slowly as a certain assassin returned to the realm of consciousness. There was a light throbbing in his head and he still felt a little unbalanced. Too much sleep, he decided as he shook off the lingering exhaustion from the battle against the Warrior. He felt a bit sluggish from lack of movement; his muscles were stiff. Zer0 stretched languidly, bending backwards in an impressive display of flexibility.

He stood again, endorphins slowly waking him up more. Checking a nearby clock, he found that it was already two in the afternoon. The man frowned slightly, annoyed that he allowed his sleep schedule to slip so badly. Now that he was awake, his mind turned towards the missing young Siren.

Where was she now?

Zer0 had to agree with the others when they decided there was nothing they could do in their injured state. But he couldn't sit around any longer. Every minute he wasted resting would likely be another moment of torment for the young girl.

Zer0 glanced around the room. His rifle lay haphazardly on the ground next to his digi-backpack. His sneaking suit lay inside a dingy washer; he apparently had enough thought to toss it in before he passed out from exhaustion. The armor was slightly wrinkled, but fortunately dry. His mind was decided; he would go look for where Jack and Angel might be. He thought he might go mad if he continued to wait around. Grabbing a quick shower, he once again suited up for battle. He reached over for his helmet and paused.

'Right. I have to replace that eventually.'

He filed that thought away for later and gave his equipment a quick check. Satisfied, he exited the room. Walking softly, Zer0 crept downstairs and left the building. The others were still asleep, he supposed there wasn't much to be said to them. They deserved their rest after all. But Zer0 didn't have time to rest, not now. He needed information, anything to point him in the right direction.

He teleported to the Hyperion Info Stockade.

It didn't take long for him to retrace his steps and enter the data room. After fumbling around momentarily with the controls, Zer0 managed to get the machine to initiate a search. The last thing Jack did was to activate an emergency evacuation from the summoning altar. The assassin needed to know where that teleport deposited the two.

As the monstrous computer terminal processed his request, Zer0 stood out on the ledge, staring down at Fyrestone. His eyes darted this way and that wary of any attacks. Though Hyperion seemed to have left, those rumors didn't assure the assassin one bit. The minutes seemed to drag on and the man mentally urged the machine to move faster. And it seemed to work.

*BEEEP!*

Zer0 jumped, startled at the sudden noise. He rushed over to the control panel, which was flashing a notice alerting him that the search was complete. Zer0 peered closely at the coordinates as a primitive robotic voice spoke dully.

"An Emergency Receiver is located in the Salt Flats, seventy-two miles southeast of your current location."

The Salt Flats.

Zer0 mused this information over for a moment. He wasn't familiar with the location, indicating he would probably have to drive there. Even if he managed to traverse most of the distance by car, which he seriously doubted he would be able to do, the journey would still take almost twenty-four hours.

And it would be getting dark soon, making it harder to determine if he was on the right track.

Zer0 breathed slowly as he exited the Info Stockade.

Was it worth it, to travel all this distance? What if they weren't there?

What if they were? Would he be able to fight Jack alone while protecting Angel?

As he dropped down into the ruins of Fyrestone, Zer0 made up his mind. He would go take a look to gather information. If Jack was indeed there, he would go back for help. There was no room in this operation for mindless heroics. They would likely only have one shot at rescuing the Siren, Jack would likely leave if they failed. Jaw set, he went back to the Arid Nexus to grab a vehicle. As he walked, Zer0 forcibly shook his head, trying to ignore his body's demands for rest.

He slept enough already, he needed to see what was at the Salt Flats.

…

**Post-War Day 4**:

Axton and the other three Vault Hunters hid quietly outside a supply hanger near Hero's Pass. The day before, Axton managed to find several ships that had not yet taken off. He also confirmed the rumors: Hyperion was definitely pulling out. In the short amount of time he was at that small hanger, he watched well over a hundred engineers, soldiers, and researcher pack up and leave. And despite the mass exodus from Pandora, ships kept coming back, sending people to the moon base where they would apparently take a larger ship back to Eden-6. As they watched another ship landed and the refueling process began.

"Let's go."

The four of them snuck in behind the ship as it slowed to a stop inside the hanger. As they hid in the shadows of the medium-sized passenger shuttle, they watched as the flight crew disembarked. From what Axton observed, those workers would alternate with another team, allowing for a break from the twenty-some hour flight to the moon base. As they hid, Gaige tugged on Axton's sleeve, leaning over to whisper in his ear.

"Who's flying?"

Axton got a contemplative look on his face. Next to him, Maya frowned and jabbed him in the ribs.

"You don't know how to?!"

The soldier avoided her glare.

"Well…"

Salvador jabbed a meaty finger towards the plane.

"Why not use him?"

The other three Vault Hunters turned to look where the dwarf was pointing. A nervous, mousey-haired young man in a captain's uniform was pacing back and forth, arguing with someone on an ECHO communicator. As they made their way closer, they could hear what he was saying.

"No! I told you, the Vault Hunters were attacking! I had no choice but to lift off! The ship was sitting duck out there!"

The person on the other end was quite vocal in his response. This only seemed to annoy the ship captain even more.

"What?! Jerry, you can't fire me for that! Nowhere in my contract does it…"

His employer cut him off. The captain's face took on an interesting shade of scarlet as he trembled with anger.

"Yeah? Is that what you think? We'll just have to see what the judge thinks about that, then, won't we!"

The captain paused, listening to the man on the other side of the communicator.

"Oh, I'm scared now! See you in court, mate!"

With a frustrated huff, the man flung the communicator against the hanger wall. The small device shattered and fell to the ground in a shower of broken electronics. Axton came up behind the man, clearing his throat and speaking.

"Can you fly this ship?"

Annoyed, the man turned around with a snarky reply.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

He froze when he saw three weapons aimed at him. Axton smiled brightly.

"We'd like to go to the moon base. Private flight, if you would."

The captain swallowed hard. After a while, he sighed.

"Whatever, I'm getting fired anyway. Come on, then."

Gaige gave Maya a look. The Siren shrugged and followed Axton and the captain aboard.

…

**Post-War Day 4**:

". . ."

Someone seemed to be talking, though the voice was muffled.

". . . can . . . me . . . ?"

Such a familiar voice, but it was too hard to move.

'Where…'

Thoughts vanished as soon as they formed, semi-consciousness was strange like that.

". . . have . . . w . . . up . . ."

The darkness was so inviting. It was just too hard to stay conscious.

'Done enough…'

It was a pleading statement. And yet, that thought was enough reasoning to fall back asleep.

". . . n . . . . . ."

The voice faded once again into soft murmurs and unconsciousness came once again.

". . ."

…

**Post-War Day 1**:

Tusya Seidin stood in the doorway of the main Hyperion laboratories. Hyperion fell a couple hours ago, with only the most resistant employees being taken away by the VLF. His ambassadors were now dealing with the local government and the small companies Hyperion once held complete control over. If they were going to complete this campaign, they needed to get this planet's citizens back on their feet. As he mused, the Doctor wandered over.

The man looked tired, the bags that were usually under his eyes were more pronounced than ever. Even as he walked over, the older man stumbled slightly before catching himself. The Doctor stood, rubbing his neck wearily. After a few seconds, he turned his gaze on the Generalissimus.

"You needed to speak with me, Tusya?"

Seidin nodded, but didn't speak for a while. The Doctor looked up at the powerful man, a rather impatient look on his face.

"Anytime this century."

Seidin frowned.

"What have you and your assistants been doing for the last couple hours?"

The old man massaged his temples as he spoke.

"Taking care of a bit of rerouting in the Hyperion systems. You did your part, it was time for me to do mine. God know I've been waiting for almost a decade to do this now."

The Generalissimus nodded.

"That's actually what I wanted to ask you about. I trust everything went smoothly?"

The Doctor sighed.

"As well as it could have."

The Vladof leader narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Explain."

The Doctor shrugged before complying.

"My programs don't work too well in space. They were really designed to be confined within a single biosphere."

At a look from the Generalissimus, the old man continued.

"There have been delays in the reconstruction. It'll take a couple days, but it will be done. The campaign draws to a close at long last, Tusya. You should cheer up a bit."

The leader huffed, unconvinced.

"I will not have this campaign fail after a decade's worth of hard work from all the men and women of the Liberation Front.

The Doctor held up a placating hand.

"It won't fail, Tusya, not anymore. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pass out on a couch somewhere."

Swaying, the old man left the room, leaving the Generalissimus to his own worries.

…

**Post-War Day 3**:

The Salt Flats.

Perhaps it was once, as the name suggested, flat. But now all Zer0 could see of the place was the scars of Hyperion's mining operations. An old Dahl digger lay wrecked near the side of a mountain, having been unceremoniously scrapped and dumped there to make way for Jack's more efficient drills. Near the northeastern border of the area, there were several hastily built buildings and an assortment of small offices. Zer0 was headed towards this collection of buildings.

Glancing around, Zer0 found traces of Atlas's mercenary group, The Crimson Lance. Hyperion apparently moved in an quickly dispatched any local resistance before getting to work. But if the rust on the building and small sand drifts were anything to go by, this place was abandoned years ago.

After about fifteen minutes of searching, he found the office he was looking for. It was a small dilapidated looking office with a rusty doorplate. Upon closer inspection, one could barely make out the name John Xanders on it. Zer0 drew his rifle and crouched down low. Gingerly, he wiggled the doorknob a little. Unsurprisingly, it didn't turn. Zer0 took this chance to survey the area, peeking into nearby buildings to reaffirm that there was nobody wandering around outside. Finally, he turned back to the door, giving himself a mental countdown.

'Three… two…'

The assassin's limber body sprang forward as a foot collided with the door. The frame shuddered and creaked, but the door itself held fast. Zer0's world spun for a moment as the sudden movement rendered him temporarily stunned. He inwardly cursed his own weakness. Gritting his teeth, he tried once again to shake off the lingering exhaustion that seemed to cling to his very bones.

And Zer0 tried again.

After two more tries, the rusted hinges of the old metal door finally gave way, causing the door to come crashing down. Stepping in, Zer0 found what appeared to be Jack's – or was it John now – old workspace. On one side of the room stood a bookshelf crammed with hundreds of books pertaining to engineering. Near the back was a simple metal desk. But what caught the his attention was something in the middle of the room.

There was a large, uneven circle of something on the floor.

The assassin made his way over and knelt down. Now a lot closer, Zer0's thin nostrils flared as he smelled the metallic scent of dried blood.

'Who's blood is this…?'

Zer0 stood, eyes roving across the room, trying to imagine what could have happened here. There were signs of a struggle, but no clear victor.

Had Angel been bested by that madman and then taken away? If so, where exactly would they go from here?

Or maybe Angel had won, in which case the question was why she didn't come back to Sacntuary.

Or maybe…

The man shook his head viciously, refusing to consider that final outcome. Zer0 ran a gloved hand gingerly over the rust colored spot. It flaked easily, indicating the blood had long since dried. An uneasy feeling passed through the man as he knelt there in that small abandoned office. He continued to stare at the dried puddle of blood, the only indication that someone was even there a couple days ago.

Worriedly, the man uttered the girl's name.

"Angel…"

…

A/N: We'll stop here and continue this in the next chapter! Any guessed on how this all ends? I sure don't! (I should probably start planning that chapter a little better, huh?)

See you next week!


	17. Revealing

A/N: I'm so sorry for all the delays. I've had very little time to write due to research and classes. Some days I'm either in lab or class for around twelve hours. I'm doing roughly 50-60 hour work weeks. Ugh.

On a brighter note, I reread my entire story and I think I have a good idea how to end it now.

**Note about Chapter 15**: I initially planned the last chapter so that each person or group had their own chronological order, but what each person or group did was not exactly in order with the other person or group. So honestly, all you had to do was keep in mind what the Vault Hunters were doing and what Zer0 was doing.

Basically, there were two storylines running concurrently, Vault Hunters and Zer0. Everything else didn't really need a date associated with it, I just thought it would be interesting for you to know when certain events might happen. Sorry for the confusion.

**Again, events that happen in the point of view of each character happen chronologically. I merely wanted to intertwine events in an interesting manner.**

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 16 – Revealing

**Post-War Day 4:**

Zer0 stumbled as he exited the Fast Travel system. His vision blurred and he blinked hard, causing the world to slide back into focus. Once again, he forced his mind to concentrate on the task at hand. If Jack was no longer on Pandora, he would need to track the man down. Wearily, he made his way over to the house where the Vault Hunters were staying. A quick check of the residence left him mildly confused.

Where did they all go?

Each attempt to contact their ECHO communicators left him all the more confused. It appeared that their communicators were either off or the signals couldn't reach wherever they were. The second possibility seemed unlikely because there were few placed on Pandora the ECHO network couldn't reach. So he checked the usual locations around town for information. The Crimson Raiders Headquarters was dark, no one save Tannis appeared to be home and she wasn't providing any answers.

"Why don't you call them? Or are you incapable of such higher thought?"

Ignoring the condescending scientist, he tried the bar. There, he managed to make some headway with Moxxi.

"I haven't heard much. You try Overlook? I think Axton went there before the team left."

Moxxi put down a glass she was polishing and leaned over the bar, peering up at him.

"Speaking of which, why aren't you with them?"

Zer0 shrugged, as he turned to leave. Moxxi called out after him, causing him to pause.

"You should keep that mask off more often. Tiger growl."

Shaking his head, he left the noisy bar. Seeing as both Marcus and Scooter were also unable to help, Zer0 took Moxxi's advice and stopped by Overlook. As he exited the transporter, he noticed Tina nearby playing with a baby stalker. Hearing the machine, she turned towards him, a hopeful look in her eyes. However, that light quickly dimmed as she realized who it was.

"Oh. It's just you. What do you want, weirdo."

Zer0 ignored her not-so-subtle barb and the baby stalker that was now sniffing him curiously.

"I need help locating Angel. Do you know where the others are?"

Tina pouted, annoyed he wasn't playing along.

"You're not speaking funny anymore. Why aren't you speaking funny?"

Zer0 squeezed his temples with one hand as he fought back his annoyance.

"Tina…"

The girl sniffed airily.

"Hmph. No manners. Did nobody teach you any better?"

Zer0 closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face. He was barely staying awake and wanted to keep moving.

"Please, Tina. I need you to tell me where they went."

The girl turned towards him, frowning, somewhat surprised at his attitude. She looked almost empathetic towards his dilemma.

"They went to the moon base to look for clues and maybe find Jack. That bastard is still out there somewhere. They took a ship from Hero's Pass."

Zer0 nodded in thanks and moved back towards the Fast Travel transporter. Tina followed him, the tiny stalker trotting along after her. He turned to look at her and noticed she still had that same odd expression on her face.

"You're worried about her."

A statement, not a question. The small girl stared up at the white-haired man, a wondering look in her eyes. Zer0's head dipped once as he nodded unhesitatingly.

"I promised to protect her."

With that, he travelled to Hero's pass, where the last remnants of Hyperion were beginning to pack up. It was a rather simple task to sneak aboard behind the last boxes of supplies – the Hyperion troops seemed too worried about getting off the planet alive to care about trivial matters like maintaining security. Hiding behind several steel crates, Zer0 felt the aircraft lurch as it took off.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he collapsed into an uneasy sleep.

…

**Post-War Day 5**:

The bulky transporter the Vault Hunters commandeered eased into the loading bay of the Hyperion moon base. As the ship settled into the anchoring locks, there was a pneumatic hiss as the bay doors closed and the air inside was pressurized to a breathable level. The moment it was safe to exit, the captain bolted from the cockpit and ran off, passing an amused Salvador on the way out.

"Coward."

Shaking his head, the diminutive man exited the shuttle as well, drawing his weapon at the same time. Maya and Gaige followed suit, looking a bit more cautious than Salvador. As Axton stood, he heard a small chime, indicating that he had a missed call on his ECHO communicator. Glancing up the screen, he noticed his connection was virtually nonexistent, possibly due to the a different communication system being implemented on the moon base. He fiddled with the communicator as he followed the others.

"Hey guys, looks like Zer0 called. I think he's still on Pandora."

Axton stepped off the plane, still busy with the ECHO device.

"You think we should call… him…"

Axton trailed off as he noticed a good thirty rifles were trained on him and the others. He raised his hands in surrender, praying they wouldn't shoot.

"Shit."

Strangely enough, they were simply thrown in a holding cell. But from the panicked and frantic movements of the soldiers outside, it was clear that they simply could not be bothered to decided how to take care of the Vault Hunters. The fact that the soldiers didn't bother to confiscate their weapons was testament to this. The situation worried Axton greatly.

"He's not here then."

Maya looked up, confusion in her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Axton jabbed a thumb at the cell door.

"Jack's not on the moon base. Otherwise, he would have had us shot on sight. I doubt he's even in charge of this evacuation."

He peered out and watched as soldiers ran back and forth with no clear purpose. They seemed to simply be running around, hoping that someone else would tell them what to do. There appeared to be an effort to load up the larger transports to leave for Eden-6, but the efforts were impeded from the sheer number of people aimlessly wandering around.

"Why didn't they just shoot us?"

As Axton mused, a face suddenly appeared in the small window of the cell door.

"I can fix that if you really want me to."

Axton fell back on his butt with a startled yelp. Through the window, a narrow-faced, blonde-haired man stared back at the imprisoned group. His high cheekbones and crisp suit gave off an air of extreme opulence. Axton wasn't too happy about being surprised by this stranger.

"Who the hell are you?"

The man smiled thinly.

"Jeffrey Blake, at your service."

Maya, however, recognized the name.

"You're Jack's aide!"

The smile grew.

"Right you are, little lady."

Axton scowled at this.

"What the hell do you want?"

Blake shrugged.

"To find out why you came here. Or did you come to enjoy the show?"

He gestured out towards the Hyperion workers who barely noticed Blake's presence near the holding cells. Axton suddenly reached through the bars and grabbed the man by the front of his pinstripe jacket.

"Where's Jack!?"

The aide's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and he replied in a smooth tone.

"You'll lose that hand if you don't let go."

Reluctantly, Axton complied. Blake straightened his jacket before turning his attention back to the team. His right hand went out of sight as he fiddled with the door's control panel. It unlocked with a light click.

"Now, if you'll follow me. I'd prefer a bit of privacy for this bit."

The Vault Hunters didn't move.

Blake opened the door and made an exaggerated gesture for them to exit. He bowed slightly, one eyebrow raised, staring at the unmoving group. Axton simply raised his weapon, warily pointing the muzzle at the man in the doorway. The man let out a long sigh.

"Would it make you feel better if you took me up to the office as a hostage?"

Axton didn't look too happy that Blake was taking the entire situation in stride. Nearby, Maya was standing in a similar position, weapon half-raised, and staring inquisitively at Blake. She spoke slowly, unsure of her own words.

"I think we should follow him… see what he wants."

Axton didn't have a response for that. Truthfully, he couldn't see any way out of this meeting without alerting the soldiers in the base. Still glaring at Jack's aide, he nodded once.

"Fine. But make one wrong move and you're a dead man."

Blake smiled blandly.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

The group moved to a nearby elevator which brought them up several floors to a large open office. A large bay window allowed for a panoramic view of space and Pandora. Blake wandered towards the single desk near the window and sat down in a large, plush chair. He sighed in comfort, leaning back to appraise the group standing before him.

A small huff caused Salvador to look around and he found himself staring at a crystalline pony standing idly in a corner of the room. He pointed this out to the others.

"Isn't that Jack's pony?"

Maya looked around more carefully.

"Speaking of which… isn't this Jack's office?"

Blake nodded happily.

"Correct again! Are you a smart one?"

Axton stepped forward, feeling annoyed for some reason.

"Then why are you sitting there?"

Blake chuckled, lifting his feet and placing them on the mahogany desk.

"You'd be surprised what people would believe in a hurry."

From near the window, Gaige spoke while staring out into space.

"So you took over?"

Blake shrugged.

"Not really, but this chair is very comfortable."

Salvador snorted.

"Then where is that puta?"

Eyes closed, Blake answered calmly.

"Eden-6."

Gaige piped up at this point.

"Wait, Eden-6? Why would he go there?"

The aide shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know. I've only been tracking his movements. He went from Hero's Pass, to his office in the Salt Flats, and then directly to Eden-6."

Maya frowned at this.

"Directly? How is that possible. Even if it's only the next galaxy over, you'd still need to make a jump from space."

Blake shrugged again.

"I think the Doc had something to do with it, but I wasn't paying much attention during the mission briefings."

Axton stared long and hard at the relaxing aide. Something about the man's attitude and behavior was sending out warning signals in his head, but he couldn't figure out just what it was. It was a discomforting feeling and he decided they should leave as soon as possible.

"Let's go then, we'll steal one of the cruisers. That jackass has lived long enough."

The soldier turned and began walking back towards the door. The others started to follow him when Blake suddenly cleared his throat.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Axton turned to glare at the man.

"And why the hell not?"

Blake smiled again in that infuriatingly annoying manner.

"Let's just say they won't be going too far, much less make the trip to Eden-6."

Axton was fed up with the act. Storming back over to the desk, he slammed a hand down onto the tabletop, an accusing look on his face.

"What are you playing at!? Is this another one of Jack's games!?"

The aide looked hurt. He stared up at Axton with wide, innocent-looking eyes.

"Who, me? Why would I do any kind of scheming for Jack?"

Axton bristled at the falseness in the man's voice.

"Then why sabotage the cruisers?"

Blake's face suddenly took on a hard look; his voice was cold as he spoke.

"Because the scum of this company deserve no better."

Axton faltered at this. The change was so sudden that, for a moment, the soldier was unsure who the man before him really was. Finally, after a moment more of staring, Axton whirled and stormed back out of the office. As the pneumatic door hissed shut behind him, he whirled and gave the door a solid kick.

"Dammit!"

Maya placed a placating hand on the soldier's arm.

"Come on. We got our answers. We're just wasting time here."

They began moving back towards the hangers, taking care to avoid any wandering patrols. As they walked, Gaige spoke up.

"Can't we take one of the transport ships to Eden-6?"

Maya shook her head.

"Those are designed for short journeys within a galaxy. To make a jump to another galaxy, we would need way more fuel than a transporter could carry."

Gaige sighed.

"So we have to go back to Pandora, huh?"

Salvador groaned.

"What a waste of time."

Still mildly upset, Axton didn't contribute to the conversation. They made their way through the rest of the moon base and its panicking workers, commandeering yet another transport ship complete with unwilling pilot. Within the hour, the empty transporter was making its way back down to Pandora.

…

**Post-War Day 5:**

"… Hello?"

There it was again.

"Miss Xanders, can you hear me? You need to wake up."

It was becoming clear that the voice was muffled by quite a bit of static, as if it was fighting shaky reception.

"The anesthetics should be wearing off. I need you to remain calm."

A blink. Electric blue eyes struggled to open, squinting from the sudden increase in light. The surrounding room shined into focus, revealing a blindingly white medical bay. The girl winced as tears formed in her eyes from disuse. As Angel Xanders struggled back into the land of the living, she noticed something rather alarming.

She couldn't breathe.

Choking, Angel realized there was a hard plastic tube stuck down her throat. Her hand reached up weakly and her fingers scrabbled against the breathing tube. For a moment, the edges of her vision darkened as panic set in. With a desperate tug, the tube gave way and, sensing the movement, the Siren managed to pull the rest of it out. This left her coughing violently as she tried to gulp in large amounts of air.

"Sorry you had to do that."

The voice sounded apologetic enough, but Angel was still too confused to care.

"How…"

The man's voice continued, speaking quickly.

"Reconstruction, but this is neither the time nor place for that discussion."

Moaning in discomfort, Angel cupped her face in her hands.

"What… what happened?"

Her voice was hoarse and her throat still felt raw from the breathing tube.

"You died."

The voice was blunt, causing the Siren to jump. She recalled the events leading up to her death and sat up straighter.

"Jack's still alive!"

This outburst left her winded and coughing again.

"Calm down, Miss Xanders. Your first goal is to get off the ship. Find Jack's aide, he can help you leave."

Angel looked around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. She found a speaker just near the head of her bed. A small red light below the speaker was lit, indicating that someone was connected to it.

"Who are you? Why would Jack's aide help me?"

The voice was silent for a moment before the person answered slowly.

"Jeffrey Blake is working for us. Just tell him the Doc sent you."

Angel frowned as the man avoided her first question. As she sat there pondering the man's identity, the Doctor continued.

"I apologize, Miss Xanders. This must all see rather impromptu. I have taken the liberty of providing you with a weapon and clean clothes. However, I advise against drawing attention to yourself unless absolutely necessary. Please try to hurry, time is of the essence. We shall speak again soon, I believe."

With that, the Doctor hung up and the red indicator light on the speaker dimmed. It took a while to take stock of her situation, but eventually Angel pushed herself off the bed and meandered over to the bathroom. On the counter, there was a simple combat outfit reminiscent of the one she was currently wearing and a simple SMG. Everything was stamped with a small Hyperion logo, indicating that she was once again in a Hyperion occupied location. She gave herself a quick onceover, making sure she wasn't missing any body parts or disfigured from her time being dead.

When she began tugging her battle-worn clothes off, a robotic lens popped down from the ceiling, focusing on the half-dressed girl.

"Good morning. You have been asleep for nine…"

Angel overloaded the Hyperion sensors, causing their internal drives to melt into an unrecognizable mess. She finished gearing up, wondering all the while what closet pervert came up with these ridiculous room designs.

'Definitely the guy the made Claptrap.'

Angel moved to the door of the medical bay and peeked outside. She saw several guards patrolling around. But aside from that, the base seemed mostly deserted. Quietly, she followed the guards through the empty hallways, careful to stay well out of sight and hearing range. From the signs they passed, the guards were clearly heading towards the hangers, so Angel continued to follow them at a distance. Passing a windowed corridor, she paused and gaped. She wasn't just in a Hyperion building.

She was in space.

She took a step back in shock, In the distance, she could see Pandora; it looked like a giant, rust colored ball. Her mind raced. If she was on the moon base, she could catch a ride back down to Pandora! Angel hurried off after the patrolling guards. After a few minutes of running, she noticed that her surroundings were getting noisier. Angel watched as they disappeared around a corner, and when she peeked out, her heart sank. The hanger was full of people rushing about moving supplies to the larger cruiser shuttles.

'What am I gonna do…?'

Moaning in despair, Angel ducked back behind the corner and began retracing her steps. She found a small unused room; it appeared to be a unused office. Using her abilities, the Siren locked the door to deny anyone access. She then sat down behind some unopened boxes, slumping her head in defeat.

Everything was happening so fast, she didn't have nearly enough time to process all of it.

Gradually, her eyes slid shut in exhaustion and she drifted off to sleep.

…

**Post-War Day 6:**

Zer0 was slow to wake as the shuttle he was hiding on docked with a light bump. Blinking blearily, it took him a few moments to recognize his surroundings. Instantly, he realized he was not in the same place he fell asleep in. Looking around, quickly, he tried to remember what happened during the ship ride. Did he get caught? If so, why had they moved him, rather than killed him? He was forced into alertness as he quickly noticed the commotion around him.

"Hurry! Move it asshole! Get those boxes unloaded, NOW!"

He thought hard, glimpses of the previous day flashing past in what seemed like a blur. He remember being tired, more tired than he ever felt before. Then… what?

"Hey, look at this! Lazy bums, sleeping on the job."

'Oh right…'

"Holy shit! They're dead! Hey! Hey, everyone! We got a killer around here!"

Zer0 remembered now. Midflight, he was suddenly awakened by some guards poking around the cargo area. In a sleepy stupor, he simply slashed their necks with his blade and retreated further into the cargo hold to continue sleeping. He didn't even attempt to hide the deed. And now the base would be on full alert for him. Zer0 made to move off the ship while no one was looking. Unfortunately, there was way more people in the hanger than he expected. As he neared the cargo doors, they were flung open and a bearded man glared up at him.

"Hey! Who the f…"

A bullet cut him off; the resulting silence was almost eerie. Zer0 stared at the pistol in his hand, suddenly cursing his honed reflexes. He was also suddenly very aware of hundred of pairs of eyes locked onto him.

"GET HIM!"

Shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, Zer0 ran.

…

**Post-War Day 6:**

Angel jerked awake at the sound of gunfire. Rubbing her eyes quickly, she leapt to her feet. A quick peek out the window set in the office door confirmed that no one was outside. She undid the lock and peered out. When it was clear the noise was coming from the hangers, she left the confines of the room.

'Maybe I can sneak aboard a ship now.'

Crouching low, she snuck towards the guardrail. Glancing down at the commotion, she paused. There was a single, white-haired individual running full pelt for the upper floors, currently being chased by what must have been the entire Hyperion force. Her heart leapt into her throat.

'Zer0!'

Spinning on her heels, she raced back down the hallway. Glancing quickly at the nearby signs, she found what she was looking for.

Jack's Office.

Regardless of what security was installed, the final commands always went through the engineer. Angel always assumed it was due to what happened with his wife. A quick pulse opened the high security door leading into the spacious room with the large bay window. The Siren dashed behind the desk and found where wood and electronics were blended in a perfect camouflage.

"Activating Phaseshift!"

She soon gained control of security functions. Through the hidden cameras littered throughout the base, she watched as Zer0 ran from countless soldiers and other armed Hyperion employees. Starting with the hangers she sequentially placed each room on lockdown alert for fire, causing blast doors to creak shut. Gradually, the crowd chasing the assassin thinned out to only a few of the faster runners. Soon, through a couple well timed commands, they were partitioned off as well. Satisfied, she leaned back in the rather comfortable chair behind Jack's desk.

After relaxing there for a moment, a perplexing thought came to her.

'How am I getting out?'

…

**Post-War Day 6:**

Meanwhile, there was panic within the sealed hangers.

"Dammit! Someone open this door!"

"Oh god, we're doomed!"

"HEEEEELLLP!"

Thoughts of panic quickly turned to desperation.

"Let's get outta here!"

"Open the gates! We're leaving!"

"We can't! Blast doors got them too!"

And desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Blast them!"

"Wait! We're not on yet!"

"FIIIRE!"

The galactic cruiser's weapons open fire on the reinforced blast doors, tearing a jagged gash in the side of the moon base. The room rapidly depressurized, sending hundreds of Hyperion employees flying out into the void, some of them catching on the edges of the gap and dying before entering the cold depths of space.

With a creaking groan, the cruiser tilted at an awkward angle and slid towards a hole not nearly large enough for the massive warship to go through.

…

**Post-War Day 6:**

Zer0 stumbled as the entire base shuddered violently. No one seemed to be chasing him anymore, but something seemed to be terribly wrong. He needed to find Angel and soon. He turned another corner, nearly running over a thin, blonde haired man. Zer0 sprung backwards, weapon drawn and aimed. He quickly recognized Hyperion's senior vice president of Mercenary Relations. It seemed that Jeffrey Blake recognized him as well.

"Hey hey! What a surprise. You here for the party?"

Zer0 frowned.

"What are you…"

The thin-faced man stepped forward, cutting Zer0 off.

"Looking for your damsel in distress? Checked her room, she ain't there. Whole base is falling apart, you know?"

Zer0 gave the man a pointed stare.

"Don't look at me! There's still fifteen minutes left on my timers! I was told to get the girl even if she hadn't woken."

Blake gestured and ran off down the hallway with Zer0 following close behind.

"Something tells me our little Siren is behind all this. And we gotta go RIGHT NOW!"

The two men retraced their steps before bursting into Jack's office only to leap aside to avoid a hail of bullets.

"Angel!"

"Geez! Bit trigger-happy there, don't you think?"

Angel brightened as she saw who she was shooting at.

"Zer0!"

She ran over, giving the taller man a tight hug. Blake interrupted their moment rather snappishly.

"Great. Can we do this later? I don't think this base was made for rapid decompression."

As if in response, the base moaned again. Outside the bay window, several bodies drifted by amidst several tons of scrap metal. Angel stepped back, blushing furiously.

"Er, right."

Blake ran over to a door set into the wall left of Jack's desk. Pulling out a keycard, he swiped it across a nondescript area of the wall, causing a hidden panel to slide open. Inside was a modified Fast-Travel station which was outfitted with Jack's own additions. Blake stepped back, staring at the machine for a moment.

"Emergency teleporter. You wouldn't believe how paranoid Jack got in these last couple years."

Angel brushed by.

"Great! Let's go!"

The three moved onto the transmitting platform. At that moment one of the guards that had been patrolling the interior of the moon base burst into the room, weapon drawn.

"You! Stop right – hurgh!"

A thin metal blade protruded from the guard's neck, dissipating as it digistructed out of existance. Zer0 and Angel stared at Jack's former aide, who was standing there as if everything was normal. Blake looked at them blankly.

"What? A man spying on Hyperion can't have weapons now? Can we go? I think this place is about to blow."

Zer0 shook his head in an exasperated motion before pressing the button on the teleporter.

…

**Post-War Day 6:**

The Vault Hunters made it back to Sanctuary, tired and frustrated. Their extensive journey provided little information and wasted an exorbitantly large amount of time. Axton briefly wondered if that was the plan all along, that Jack's aide had merely strung them along, giving Jack an opportunity to recover from whatever wounds he sustained during the battle at Hero's Pass. As they stepped out of the Fast Travel station, Axton noticed a crowd gathered outside, staring up.

"Hey! What's going on…"

A shockwave pulsed down from the moon base, causing everyone to crouch down in surprise. Axton turned his eyes skyward, weapon drawn and ready for an attack. Instead, he saw a curious sight. The Hyperion moon base which they had just returned from was now little more than a pile of scrap metal orbiting the planet.

"What the…"

The gathered Vault Hunters spun as they heard the Fast Travel activating again. The machine shuddered before letting out a loud bang, spewing out plumes of smoke from whatever destination it was connected to. This time, three more people were spat out, one of them coughing violently.

"That was too close! We're lucky that didn't kill us!"

The taller individual straightened, dusting off his ash spattered suit.

"We're alive. I'd say that's a plus."

As the suited man turned his head, coughing as a bit of smoke oozed out of the teleporter, he caught sight of the citizens of Sanctuary and the Vault Hunters staring at them. Axton recognized the suited man as Jeffrey Blake. The man still had that same infuriatingly nonchalant look about him, though this time it was tinged with chagrin. Blake looked away, pointing at Angel as he did.

"She did it."

The Siren looked incredulously at the thin man.

"What?! Those were your explosives!"

Blake remained stubbornly resolute.

"Destroying a base you already tore apart."

Angel growled angrily. Axton stepped forward.

"Can someone explain just what the hell's going on?"

Blake looked at Angel. Angel looked at Zer0. Zer0 shrugged. As the Siren was about to explain, a loud ringing sounded, causing everyone to jump. Gaige looked down to find her ECHO communicator sounding. Picking it up, she spoke into it tentatively.

"Er… hello?"

Antonia Tolstoi responded, worry in her voice.

"Gaige? Sweetie? Vladof satellites picked up a massive energy spike from the Hyperion moon base at Pandora a couple minutes ago… Is everything alright?"

Still in shock at recent events, it was a moment before Gaige spoke up.

"Um… er… I think Angel blew it up…"

Angel yelled out from the side.

"It wasn't my fault!"

Her mother took a moment to respond.

"The Siren? Jack's daughter? Interesting. I thought she died? I wasn't aware there were plans to resurrect her."

Gradually, the mechromancer's brain began working again.

"Yeah, long story, mom. Anyway, Jack's still alive. His former aide told us he's on Eden-6."

This seemed to cheer the woman up greatly.

"Jeffrey did? Great! We're already here, just come when you can. The Doc asked for you lot. Bring Tina, too. It'll be less of a hassle that way."

With that, her mother hung up. The team stood slack-jawed around the mechromancer and her ECHO communicator. After a few lengthy minutes, the girl spoke in a tiny, confused voice.

"What."

…

A/N: That's it for the silly dates thing. I still like the concept, but I probably could have executed it better.

I doubt anyone thought I was actually going to kill off Angel. There's no tragedy genre attached to this fic, so expect a happy ending.

Next stop, Eden-6 as we bring things to a close.

This is the first time I've been this close to actually ending a story, so I can't say I have much experience writing endings. Guess we'll see if it all works out.

Due to my work schedule, I'll be writing when I can, but I don't think I can pull off my old weekly schedule for the last two chapters.

See you… next time then.


	18. Executing

A/N: I made it through this hellish week of exams with my sanity (mostly) intact! I joined a permanent lab! And, hey, look! A chapter!

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Chapter 17 – Executing

Tina was pacing about Overlook again, waiting for her sister to return. The Vault Hunters left almost three days ago and today, they would apparently be making an intergalactic trip to Eden-6. The young girl's nervousness was affecting the baby stalker, who watched the agitated girl as she paced back and forth near the Fast Travel station.

The time she spent waiting for news from the Vault Hunters was possibly the worst couple days of her life. The moon base was the center of Jack's operations and there was no telling what complications were in store for her sister and her friends. Initially, Tina wanted to go with them, but Gaige eventually convinced the younger girl to stay under the reasoning that her skills were less suited for battle in a pressurized base situated in space. And so the girl could do little more than sit and wait.

She was devastated when late last night she heard and felt a massive shockwave, looking only to realize that the base her sister was at no longer existed.

Tina was overcome with panic, frantically running about Karima's house until the level-headed woman offered her an ECHO communicator. The first time she tried calling Gaige, she received a busy signal. Fearing the worst, the small girl called again and again until finally, after a few heart-pounding rings, Gaige answered the call. Apparently, Gaige had been talking with Antonia, causing the communicator to reject other incoming calls. It took a good ten minutes of talking before the young explosives expert was convinced her sister was indeed safe and sound. Finally, Gaige explained that they needed to sort of plans for travelling to Eden-6. With any luck, they were hoping to arrange for a shuttle from Pandora to Eden-6 to be ready for launch at daybreak. She suggested that Tina sleep for a bit and they would come pick her up in the early morning.

Reluctantly, Tina tried to do just that.

She ended up tossing and turning for a couple hours before getting up and going outside to wait. This was the reason why, bright and early in the morning, Tina was pacing back and forth, occasionally glancing up at the skies, now devoid of the once ever-present moon base. Antoinette dozed nearby, one eye opening once in a while to make sure Tina was still around. To the young girl, it all seemed surreal; she was still in disbelief that this entire nightmare brought on by Handsome Jack was almost over.

But thoughts of the horrid ex-tyrant were driven from her mind as the Fast Travel Station crackled to life. Tina whirled and waited as the figures materialized. The next moment she had Gaige in a tight hug as relief flooded her body. She wasn't even aware how tense she was until that moment. Face buried in the mechromancer's jacket, the smaller girl mumbled away.

"I missed you."

Gaige allowed a small smile to flit across her features. Nearby, Maya leaned towards Axton.

"What's with the stalker?"

Axton shrugged. Similarly, Angel nudged Zer0, gesturing at the dozing creature.

"Is that…?"

Zer0 gave a small nod. They turned back to the younger girls as Gaige started to speak.

"Go get your stuff. We made arrangements with a supplies frigate. It'll be leaving soon."

Tina nodded and ran into the house shouting out to Karima.

"Yo, Miss Kay! Thanks for letting me crash here! Those crumpets were killer!"

The older woman followed the excited girl outside. Kneeling, she gave Tina a brief hug and ruffled the girl's hair.

"Take care of yourself, kiddo."

Nodding, Tina waved one last time as she joined the Vault Hunters at the Fast Travel.

"So how are we getting to the ship?"

Gaige waved a hand vaguely.

"Seems like with Hyperion pulling out, some restrictions have been lifted. The Pandora Spaceport was one of them. Guess that bastard didn't want anyone leaving and telling others the Vault Hunter recruitment was a scam."

To their confusion the stalker stretched, yawned, and followed them as well. It sat nearby, calm as can be, staring up at them. Tina seemed happy, though, so no one really questioned it even when it somehow managed to join them through the Fast Travel system. The young explosives expert said something about Antoinette being a queen at heart, but no one could make heads or tails of it so they simply accepted it.

Once they teleported to the spaceport, which was surprisingly busy despite being on lockdown for the last couple years, the group made their way towards the transport ship they would be hitching a ride on to get to Eden-6. The terminal they were moving towards was busy with workers and personnel running around getting things ready for the imminent flight.

"Hey! Over here!"

In the lead, Axton glanced around before finding Lilith, who was waving both arms to get their attention. As they approached, Tina noticed a new face. Alongside Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick, there was a rather thin man with dirty blonde hair. However, before the girl could comment on this, Lilith was already greeting the group.

"Is this everyone?"

Axton nodded.

"We seem to have picked up one extra, though."

He nodded at the small stalker that was now watching their interactions with guarded curiosity. Lilith nodded hesitantly.

"That should be okay provided it doesn't kill anyone important."

An overhead speaker announced that the ship for Eden-6 would be leaving. Lilith gestured to the group.

"Come on, then. We can talk after we get situated. It'll be a long flight."

The last few shipping containers bound for Eden-6 were loaded and the captain was given the all-clear for takeoff. The massive cruiser lurched into the air, much faster than a standard shuttle, and began its ascent into space. The captain spoke calmly as they picked up speed, thrusters propelling the ship up and beyond Pandora's gravitational pull.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Joshua Smith. Welcome aboard. We are now en route to Eden-6. In a few moments we will be making the jump to the Eden galaxy. I'll ask you all to remain seated until the jump is complete. From the jump point, it will be approximately eighteen hours before we reach Eden-6. In that time, all facilities will be open. Thank you and enjoy your flight."

Intergalactic jumps were often highly regulated as the energy output and displacement of matter usually caused aftershocks and a slew of other energy discharge related problems. However, Pandora was a relatively isolated and underdeveloped planet, so most pilots tended to ignore the aftereffects of jumping when travelling to and from Pandora. Captain Smith was no different. The moment the ship left Pandora's gravitational field, the cruiser's engines charged and, one shuddering lurch later, the ship had arrived safely at the Eden galaxy's jump point.

As the ship began to move towards Eden-6, the staff and few passengers were finally allowed to move about. Salvador got up, stretched momentarily, and wandered off towards the mess hall. Tina, on the other hand, was now openly staring at the newcomer. The man stared back with a calm detached look.

"Yes?"

Antoinette, thinking this was some kind of game, stared as well.

"Who the hell are you?"

Gaige rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"Some bum that followed us here."

The man sniffed haughtily.

"Jeffrey Blake, Chief Marshal of Signals Troops of the Vladof Liberation Front, at your service."

Axton managed to keep his mouth from dropping. Instead, he became rather irritated.

"You're a spy?!"

Blake looked rather put out by this comment.

"Really? You're just figuring that out? Shame, I expected better of you."

Axton flushed as he stood angrily and took a step forward. Maya grabbed his wrist lightly, causing some of the tension to dissipate from his body, though he remained standing, a sullen look on his face.

"I don't recall you helping us a whole lot for someone who's supposedly against Hyperion. How do we know you're not a double agent?"

Blake gave a bored yawn as he shifted to a more comfortable position in his seat.

"My job was to gather data on Jack's movements. You had four Vault Hunters able to confirm I wasn't a threat. You were just too focused on Jack to ask the right questions."

Axton was feeling quite frustrated at this point. Whirling to face the three original Vault Hunters, he gestured accusingly at the thin spy relaxing near a window seat of the roomy seating area.

"You knew this guy?"

Lilith and Mordecai exchanged guilty looks.

"Well… we kinda helped him quell a robot rebellion…"

Lilith added onto Mordecai's weak explanation.

"But we didn't know he was a spy!"

The soldier turned on Blake.

"And you didn't think you could have given us even the slightest bit of help?"

Lilith rolled her eyes.

"Don't bother asking him that, I already tried."

Axton growled in anger.

"Why didn't you mention this when you were directing us to Eden-6? Jack was already out of power by then."

Blake leaned back in his chair, nonchalant as ever, shrugging lightly.

"I had no reason to reveal things to you. I merely answered your questions. Of course, if you had attacked, that would have been a different story."

Axton stared, slack-jawed.

"Seriously? That's it?"

Blake gave him a bland look.

"You asked, I answered. Simple as that."

Axton glared at the man.

"You're a heartless bastard, you know that? Even Claptrap is more human than you are."

The spy scoffed.

"Well, then, one day I might go to android hell, but for now… I think I'll keep up the spying. Pays the bills, you know?"

Axton leaned in close to the impassive man.

"Let me make this clear. I don't like you. I don't trust you."

Blake stared back up evenly, a smile ghosting across his lips.

"Then I guess I'm doing pretty good at my job."

Teeth bared, Axton growled out a warning.

"You give me any reason to think you might be a threat and I will not hesitate to end you."

Blake's head tilted to the side, though his eyes never left Axton's.

"I expect no less from you."

Axton continued to stared, trying to read this enigma of a man. He eventually gave up and, with a huff, stormed off out of the seating area. Blake sighed.

"Angry man."

Maya shoulders slumped in exasperation.

"I'll go talk to him. I, for one, am glad the VLF has been a part of all this. Though, I do wish you would've let us know about your movements."

Blake nodded slightly as the blue-haired Siren left the room as well. As the door slid shut, he turned his attention back on the group.

"So. Any other questions?"

Angel spoke up tentatively.

"Why were you on the moon base?"

Blake shrugged.

"Doctor's orders? I could move about Hyperion so it was easier for me to wait for your recovery. Orders were to sabotage the base and move you to a more secure location."

A slight frown formed on Angel's face.

"I could've used a little help with the breathing tube."

Blake winced at this.

"Ooh… yeah, sorry about that. If I knew you were healed, I would have. But as it was, I was a bit busy rigging all the cruisers with explosives."

Angel continued to stare, unconvinced. Blake waved a hand.

"In my defense, there seems to have been a bit of a miscommunication. The Doc told me to help you when you woke. Next thing I knew you were up and about destroying the base. I'm gonna have a word with that old man about why I wasn't told when you decided to wake up."

They were quiet for a while. During that time, Gaige, Tina, and the baby stalker got up and wandered off. The three original Vault Hunters eventually did the same as well, leaving Zer0, Angel, and Blake behind. To their surprise, Blake prompted conversation.

"So tell me. What exactly happened after Jack escaped?"

Angel looked rather uncomfortable at the question. Extrapolating, Blake answered himself.

"You killed him."

The young Siren jumped at the sudden conclusion. She stared at the spy for a moment before shaking her head.

"I didn't manage to kill him. The New-U system took him shortly after."

Angel rubbed her shoulder tiredly and continued.

"I passed out shortly after that. Judging by where I ended up, the New-U system kicked in again. Though I think this time I really did die for a while."

Zer0 looked rather uncomfortable with the revelation. Blake, on the other hand, just gave her a snarky little smirk.

"Keep that up and I'll stop believing you didn't know you were in the New-U system altogether."

Angel pouted in annoyance.

"It's not like I go and plan these things you know? And besides, shouldn't resurrection have been impossible?"

Blake made a noncommittal noise before answering.

"You'll have to ask the Doc about that. I'm no engineer. Just a lowly spy."

Zer0 snorted lightly, causing the two to turn towards him. He smiled thinly at Blake.

"Such a lowly spy / Incapable of acting, / Yet hires another?"

Blake grinned at this.

"I never got a chance to thank you for that job. You were very clean."

Angel looked rather confused at the current conversation.

"What are you talking about?"

Zer0 explained for her benefit.

"I got rid of his competition a couple years back."

Blake glanced over at the girl as he filled in the details.

"You recall Hyperion was having some money troubles a while back?"

Angel nodded, remembering the budget cuts and layoffs that were a result of the efforts to take control of Pandora. Blake went on speaking.

"I needed to stay in Hyperion and the choice for layoffs was down to me and this Dimsdale guy. So I had him removed."

Angel looked blankly at the man lounging in the chair in front of her.

"Why would you hire an assassin when you could've done it yourself?"

Blake shrugged.

"The more airtight my alibi was, the better. Jack had no real reason to fire me after that."

Angel frowned but agreed it was probably for the best.

"So what now? Is the VLF preparing to fight Jack?"

The thin face man smirked at this.

"My guess is they're already done. Antonia wouldn't have told her daughter to come if it wasn't safe. She's too much a doting mother for that."

The Siren was silent for a moment. Then she spoke in a quiet voice.

"So Jack is…?"

Blake shook his head.

"That I don't know. All I know is Hyperion is no longer a threat. They might have executed him on the spot, they might have detained him for questioning. We'll have to find out once we arrive."

The girl nodded and remained silent. After it was apparent she didn't feel like talking anymore, Blake stood.

"Welp, I'm gonna go explore a bit."

He left Zer0 and Angel and walked off towards the front of the ship. The remaining two sat in silence. Zer0's voice startled the young Siren out of her reverie.

"I'm glad you're okay."

This surprised the Siren and she tilted her head to stare at him with an odd look on her face. Zer0 ignored this and continued on quietly.

"What happened with Jack?"

Angel let out a small, sad sigh.

"I realized my father died ten years ago."

The assassin nodded slightly and decided not to press the issue further. Angel spoke again after a short pause.

"Thanks for coming after me again."

Zer0 scoffed.

"Didn't do a whole lot of good."

Angel shook her head.

"Thanks anyway."

Zer0 gave Angel a small smile of gratitude. In the quiet hum of the ship's engines, Zer0's eyes eventually drifted shut. His breathing soon deepened as his head tilted forward to rest on his chest. Angel watched him sleep for a moment, a faint smile playing across her lips. She stretched and closed her eyes as well. It would be a long flight and she wasn't too interested in seeing the ship just yet.

A smirking Blake returned later to find them resting against each other.

…

Eighteen hours later and the cruiser landed at the Eden-6 spaceport. As the crewmembers began unloading supplies, the group from Pandora disembarked and left without any problems. Once they entered the transit area of the spaceport, Blake took command.

"I've arranged for you all to have access to Hyperion Headquarters. Just use the station like you would the Fast Travel on Pandora."

With that, he left. The others followed suit shortly thereafter. Once they reached their destination, they followed Blake out of the transit station and into the depths of the building. As they journeyed through endless hallways, they could see soldiers moving about, some with Hyperion workers held prisoner, others reprogramming the local security system. Each man and woman wore an armband adorned with a single V with a star in the middle.

"In here people."

Blake ushered them into a large conference room where a tall, bald man stood next to an older gentleman with graying hair. The bald man was moderately decorated, though his outfit seemed more suited for combat than pomp and circumstance. He carried himself with a confidence that suggested he was someone in a position of power. In contrast, the older man wore a white coat over a simple business casual attire. He slouched ever so slightly, as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. But with that came a quiet pride that shone through his aged eyes.

The bald man stepped forward and addressed the gathered group.

"Welcome. I am Tusya Seidin, Generalissimus of the Vladof Liberation Front."

He gestured to his companion.

"And this – "

But Angel cut him off, confronting the old man.

"You!"

Angel took a step towards the Doctor. Seidin tensed, hand twitching towards his holstered weapon in an almost invisible gesture.

"Ma'am, you recognize Dr. Wastryn?"

Ignoring the Vladof Generalissimus, Angel continued to glare at the old scientist. Her next words were bitter and sarcastic.

"You were 'just doing your job as head researcher to ensure the project worked.'"

Wastryn flinched as if she had struck him. His eyes were full of regret as he answered her.

"Yes, I was the head scientist assigned to you."

Seidin remained between the two, ready to move should things turn violent. However, Angel remained where she was.

"Why didn't you help me then? Why couldn't you even talk to me?"

Her voice cracked at the end, full of desperation and longing for an answer that had eluded her for so long. The old man seemed to age before her eyes. He bowed his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Angel. I couldn't risk blowing my cover. It's a meaningless excuse, but that's all I can offer."

He swallowed dryly before continuing.

"My team and I spent all our extra hours trying to find some way to let you out. We were close, but Hyperion's security was something only you could break. And with Jack breathing down our necks, we never got a chance to speak with you without cameras or guards watching."

Wastryn shook his head sadly.

"Once you were taken to Pandora and we lost all contact with you. The most I could do was ensure you might escape should you die. It was the only option we could come up with on such short notice."

The man looked up, brown eyes staring into her own electric blue ones.

"In the end, we failed you, Angel, and for that I apologize deeply. We all do. I can only hope you forgive this foolish old man."

Angel was deeply troubled by this revelation. The old scientist begging for forgiveness saddened her; she knew this was all Jack's fault to begin with. At this thought, some of the anger left her body. Instead, she decided to get more answers.

"So… you revived me? How did you even manage that without Jack noticing? How come I never noticed anything? Even with the system shut down?"

The old man chuckled lightly.

"My dear, I practically created the accursed system. If anyone has complete, unrestricted access to every aspect of who is reconstructed and when it was done, it would be me. But to answer your question, I rerouted the respawn point for you to the moon base when the system was shut off on Pandora. There was a delay due to the distance the information needed to travel. Additionally, you appeared to have been injured. The delay worsened your wounds and we needed to give you medical attention right away, another reason we chose the moon base. The automated medical service was vital to your recovery."

Angel was silent for a while, processing this information. Then she looked up, a confused look on her face.

"If you had control over that system, why didn't you just let Jack die?"

Lilith jumped in at this.

"You resurrected the son of a bitch?! What were you thinking!"

Doctor Wastryn held up hand.

"Perhaps it is easier to show you. Tusya, has the chamber been finished?"

Seidin glanced over at the Doctor.

"The last cables were connected earlier today. From what the lab boys tell me, the power levels are stable and the programs should be ready to be activated."

The older man nodded and turned back to the group.

"I'll ask that you follow us for a bit. We can talk on the way."

Confused and wary, the team followed the two Vladof officers out of the conference room. They ended up in front of a large elevator situated in the central part of the building. Seidin approached the call panel and swiped his badge across a sensor. The door opened and the group entered, fitting in relatively easily. Seidin then took out a smaller keycard and inserted it into a slot below the floor selections. The door closed and Wastryn turned back to the group.

"This story begins with our campaign to bring down Hyperion, which had grown corrupt in both its dealings and ethics. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Hyperion was actually heavily focused on research and development long ago. It was only when the profits of war lured several board members into convincing one president into moving towards weapons development that the company truly started to decline."

"Tusya sent several squadrons to each of the Hyperion outposts scattered throughout the galaxies. Their job was to integrate into the company and prepare for a simultaneous take-down. I was sent, with my team of scientists, to the main headquarters. If he hasn't already told you, Jeffrey was there as well to get close to the President and potentially carry out an assassination. We scientists were to discover everything Hyperion was trying to create and ensure that technology didn't get into questionable hands. Once everything was ready, Tusya was supposed to give the signal and each contingent of soldiers would attack the company they were stationed at, effectively rendering Hyperion impotent and ready for restructuring."

The elevator chugged on downwards. Angel wondered briefly just how deep into the earth they were going. Doctor Wastryn continued on.

"But then Jack happened. He jumped in and altered the company in a way we were not prepared to combat. Jack recruited and trained more soldiers as well as purchasing more and more robots suited for combat. Everything Hyperion did rapidly shifted towards warfare. Once he picked up the loader blueprints, his innovations allowed for a massive increase in enemy units our troops would have to fight. It was everything we could do to stay within the company and not lose the precious positions we all had worked so hard to obtain. We have all been working this campaign for well over a decade now."

Wastryn cleared his throat momentarily before speaking again.

"During that time, I worked with some of Hyperion's top scientists to produce what you now know as the New-U system. Shortly thereafter, those scientists were also recruited into my team, giving us further insight into the corruption that was spreading because of Jack. Once Jack caught wind of the events on Pandora, we convinced him to install the system so that we would have widespread surveillance on the planet and, more importantly, Atlas."

Seidin interjected suddenly, causing a couple people to jump.

"Atlas was another potential problem with their Crimson Lance mercenaries. However, the Vault Hunters successfully crippled their company and they have, for all intents and purposes, gone bankrupt."

Wastryn nodded.

"Once we had everything set up each branch facility of Hyperion was brought down. Tusya supervised each force's actions and led the charge on Eden-5. He had concerns that Jack was in the New-U system and took a portion of the soldiers on Eden-5 and came over here. Once he arrived, we brought down the last bastion of Hyperion fairly quickly. His suspicions were correct and we found Jack had inputted his own information into the system years ago."

He turned to Angel.

"Once you killed him, I managed to override his commands and forced his information here."

Lilith, still looking vengeful, growled out.

"So you're keeping the bastard locked up? Why not kill him?"

The Doctor nodded before answering the irate Siren.

"That is where we're heading. I believe you'll find his accommodations most… fitting."

After another minute or so, the elevator stopped with a gentle bump. The doors opened revealing a rather cold and gray corridor with a door at the end. Seidin now lead the group as they moved down the hall. Another swipe with that keycard and the doors opened, albeit with a bit of creaking suggesting this area was rarely used. Inside the doorway was a small room with a large glass window set in to their right.

Wastryn gestured with a hand for them to enter the small viewing room.

"Welcome to the execution chamber."

Lilith looked through the window and let out an involuntary gasp.

Below was a dome-like chamber with metallic wall panels seamlessly fitted together. In the center of each individual panel was a small rounded surface, causing the walls to look bumpy from their perspective. In the dead center of the chamber, there was a raised platform with a heavy-looking metal chair. The lack of any kind of embellishments made the seat seem more like a solid stone throne than anything else.

Cuffed in that seat was Handsome Jack.

He looked to be unconscious but largely uninjured. Lilith turned towards the Doctor as the rest of the group entered the room.

"What are you going to do with him? This can't be a simple prison cell."

Wastryn nodded gravely.

"You are correct. We decided that his crimes were too heinous for a simple death sentence. This room will become his eternal hell. There is no entrance to the room, that was sealed off once he was locked in that chair. The chair itself will also serve as the device for his punishment."

The older man walked over to the glass window of the viewing room.

"It's a simple setup, really. On a timer, that chair will become positively charged and the walls will become negatively charged. The resulting discharge will fry every nerve in his body, killing him quickly."

This was received with blank looks from most of the gathered group. Wastryn cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"It shocks him to death."

There was a murmured "oh." Below, Jack's figure was stirring. Ignoring his movement, the Doctor continued, now leaning against the window frame.

"Unfortunately, there is some oxygen being pumped into the room to allow for this discharge, so he won't be suffocating in there."

Jack awoke with a start. Looking around, the man noticed he was restrained and, as a result, began yelling, though no sounds could be heard through the glass. Wastryn turned to stare down at the man.

"I've wired my New-U system to continuously reconstruct him in this room. We'll be disabling all access as we leave. He will spend the rest of his days here. Who knows, it may very well be a millennia or more before he dies of natural causes and this machine goes quiet."

Gaige frowned, clearly uncomfortable with the punishment. Sure she wanted the man to die, but this punishment seemed rather extreme. On the other hand, for those who were more intimately affected by Jack's madness, they could see it was a fitting sentence. The Vladof leader stepped forward.

"If you are done, Doctor, I would prefer if we finished this today."

Doctor Wastryn nodded and stepped into the adjacent room. The bald man made to follow him, but Wastryn shook his head.

"Generalissimus, I would like to have one last word with our prisoner. In private, please."

Seidin nodded stiffly and the Doctor closed the door behind him. Outside in the viewing room, Generalissimus Seidin rejoined the others, standing silently by the closed door as Wastryn worked. His figure was tense, for though this hellish campaign was nearly at its end, he would not let up his guard until it was truly over. In the computer room, Wastryn stared sadly at the former tyrant of Hyperion through the reinforced glass window. He spoke through a small one-way microphone.

"You never did get over Mary's death, did you John?"

Jack jumped at the sudden voice. Looking around, he locked eyes with the old man in the computer room. The man inside the isolation chamber raged, spittle flying as he screamed curses that fell on deaf ears. Outside, Seidin stared coldly down at the man who had become the embodiment of greed and wrath. Lilith wore a similar expression. Though she couldn't hear what the old man was saying to Jack, she knew the nightmare brought on by Jack and his obsession was almost over. So she waited.

"Did you know? We almost recruited you to help take down Hyperion. You were a brilliant engineer. Your inventions were getting noticed. With Hyperion cleaned up, you could've made a huge difference in this world."

Wastryn let out a long sigh. To Jack, it sounded raspy and full of static.

"But your dedication became an obsession. We watched you change, John. Ten years, you tortured your own daughter, your own flesh and blood. For five years, we could do nothing against you."

The old man let out a soft chuckle.

"I guess I should thank Angel for leading you to Pandora. We would never have achieved this if you had stayed on Eden-6."

Wastryn smiled sadly.

"This is the end, John. You must have known your actions could only lead to this. I almost want to believe you intended for this to happen."

Wastryn began typing commands into the console as he talked.

"This is your due punishment, though I doubt it will ever compare to the wrongs you have committed. My only regret now is this didn't happen sooner."

The figure strapped to the chair had stopped struggling now and was looking at the elderly doctor with a strange look upon his face, one mixed with apprehension and defiance. There was silence as Wastryn worked. Finally, the old man looked up from his task.

"This will be your hell, John. I am truly sorry it came to this."

With that, Wastryn executed the written commands. A metal panel descended over the window in the console room. Electricity arced throughout the entirety of the room as Jack screamed in pain, voice muffled by the thick reinforced glass observation window. The light was blinding and most of the Vault Hunters squinted their eyes in an effort to filter out some of the light. As they watched, Jack slumped forward and his body began to disintegrate into digital particles. A few seconds later and the man was alive again.

And the cycle repeated.

The three Sirens watched as the man responsible for their plight was electrocuted over and over. Angel looked away, unable to continue watching. Unconsciously, Zer0 wrapped an arm around her in a comforting manner. Maya stood, a neutral look on her face. And Lilith stared on, torn between satisfaction and disgust. Nobody spoke as the elderly doctor reentered the room, shutting the door behind him with a soft click.

"Tusya, if you would."

The Generalissimus stepped forward and locked the door with a keycard. Wastryn pressed something near the window and a metal shield descended, blocking out the view of the execution chamber. Then he gestured to the gathered Vault Hunters.

"Come on, kids. Let us leave this place."

One by one, each Vault Hunter filed out of the room. With a light click, the door leading into the room shut for the last time. This, too, Seidin locked with the keycard. Then, he dropped the card and brought out an E-tech pistol. He unloaded a full clip into the small card, filling the plastic with glowing needles. When they exploded all that was left of the keycard was a burnt patch on the floor.

As they reentered the elevator for the long ride back to the surface, Wastryn explained that the lowest floor would be sealed off within the week. With any luck, Hyperion would be on the honest track towards innovations and technological advancements within the next couple years.

And Jack, in all his glory and ambitions, would eventually be forgotten.

Eventually, he would become a piece of history, a figure in a story book, an imaginary boogieman that parents would use to scare their kids into behaving. Historians would look back on this event and only see a man drunk with power committing mass genocide under some delusional goal. He would be no different than any other dictator that rose and fell with the passage of time.

And perhaps one day the generators would fail long enough for the man to stay dead. Or maybe he would finally die of natural causes as the seconds lived during each resurrection accumulated, pushing him into old age.

But until then, he would have almost an eternity to live through his final punishment.

…

A/N: Final chapter will come soon. I might be able to do a good portion of it over spring break! (Though I don't exactly have a break because Spring Break is synonymous to Lab Work, everyone else younger than me does though!)

See you (hopefully) next week.


	19. Releasing

A/N: Oh my, the final chapter. I am literally praying every deity that I don't screw this up. Sorry for the delays. Who knew that no class for a week meant more that much more work? (…sigh.)

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Epilogue – Releasing

Within the commandeered Hyperion Headquarters, two people sat relaxing in a waiting area as most of the takeover was winding down to a close. Michael Tolstoi was currently engaged in a staring contest with a certain four-legged beast. His wife, Antonia, sat nearby reading a magazine, pointedly ignoring her husband's somewhat childish behavior.

The creature was about the size of a large dog and had webbing extending from its foreclaws to its torso, suggesting the potential for flight. Its scales shimmered slightly in the fluorescent lighting. It stared right back at Michael, curious to see where this was all leading. The larger man didn't seem to be a threat and he smelled a bit like the red-headed human that was often with her own human.

As the two continued to stare in silence, Gaige entered the room, followed shortly by Tina. Gaige looked rather confused at the sight.

"Dad… what are you doing…?"

As the two girls watched, the man reached out a hand and, when it appeared the creature would not attack, petted it on the head.

"Welcome to the family, Tina."

The smaller girl looked stunned, seemingly unsure if she wanted to laugh or pass out. Gaige simply rolled her eyes.

"Stop that, Dad. Antoinette is only up here because there wasn't enough room in the elevator to take her down."

Mr. Tolstoi leaned in close, squinting at Tina, who had his daughter's hand in a vice-like grip.

"You're Tina, are you?"

Now face to face with the man who would be her father, Tina couldn't muster up the courage to say something snarky. Instead, she merely gave the faintest of nods.

"Tell me, how often did you eat on Pandora?"

The bomb-maker was confused, but answered anyway.

"Uh… when I could, why?"

Michael frowned, running a hand over his chin.

"You're a bit skinnier than I thought… but we can fix that."

His eyes suddenly brightened and he looked all the part of a kid on Christmas.

"So, what kind of explosives do you like? I prefer det. cord, real flexible and adaptable to many situations."

Tina glanced at Gaige, looking for help. Being an engineer, the redhead had little idea what her father was gibbering on about. The smaller girl turned back to Michael.

"Uh… large… ones?"

Michael looked slightly miffed.

"Well that's not too specific…"

Annoyed, Tina stomped a foot.

"It's not like we had much to work with. I just scavenged anything from crash sites and battlefields."

Michael appeared to want to say something, but was interrupted as a rolled up magazine swatted him across the head. Antonia looked quite angry.

"That's not how you greet someone!"

She turned to Tina.

"Sorry about him, sweetheart. My names Antonia. I'll be your adoptive mother."

Tina reached out and shook the blonde haired woman's hand. Rubbing his head and grumbling, Michael also held out a hand to the small girl.

"I'm Michael Tolstoi. I'll be your adoptive father."

Tina hesitated for a moment before carefully shaking the larger man's hand. He was grinning now, pleased that she was at least happy with the situation. Tina let out a small squeak as he scooped her up into a massive bear hug, laughing all the while.

"Welcome to the family, Tina."

Stunned by emotions long forgotten and a warmth she thought she lost long ago, the small girl openly wept.

…

A few days passed on Eden-6 and Axton was just about ready to leave. The Vladof Liberation Front continued about their business, but there was less fighting now that all enemy operatives had been detained and processed. Most of the VLF was focused on paperwork and the restructuring of Hyperion.

Needless to say, a soldier like Axton was beginning to feel rather bored and the notice of the return flight to Pandora was happy news. He was the first to arrive at the loading bay, impatiently waiting on the others to arrive and the workers to finish loading so they could leave.

Maya was first to arrive. She was probably the one most disappointed about their departure. The Siren spent most of her time learning everything she could about the elusive Vladof corporation: former leaders, past campaigns, goals and the like. Even as they waited, she was looking around at the various supplies Vladof was sending to different planets.

With little else to do, Axton watched Maya, an amused smile on his face. Ever since they met, he knew the woman was more of a scholar than a fighter; her upbringing had seen to that. The soldier found himself wondering what she would do now that the fighting was finished. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he barely noticed the VLF leader approached him.

"Axton McCallim (1)?"

Axton turned, surprised at hearing his own last name. When was the last time anyone used it? Maya peered curiously at the two, though it didn't seem like the Generalissimus was going address her as well. The soldier nodded, rather hesitatingly, at the bald man.

"Sir?"

Gesturing, Tusya Seidin called Axton aside to speak with him.

"You were their leader, am I correct?"

Axton felt slightly intimidated by the bald man's hard gaze. He felt like he was back in the Dahl military again, a rookie entering their military service. He answered as he would if he were addressed by a commanding officer.

"Not entirely, sir. I believe they relied on my military knowledge and expertise for strategies. However, combat was impromptu. We helped each other when necessary."

Seidin nodded curtly.

"Have you given thought to your future plans now that Jack is gone?"

Axton fidgeted nervously.

"Not yet, sir. I was thinking about possibly taking up bounty hunting again for a while."

Seidin continued to stare at Axton. Finally, the Generalissimus spoke.

"Have you considered joining the VLF? Our work is never finished and we could always use a soldier like yourself."

Axton's eyes widened slightly. Here was the leader of Vladof, offering a random soldier like himself a position in their illustrious military front. He could only stammer weakly.

"I… uh… wow… I'd be honored…"

He paused as the face of a certain blue-haired Siren flashed through his mind. Frowning, he addressed Seidin.

"Er… how long will this offer be open?"

Seidin watched the soldier carefully.

"Is something about our group not to your liking?"

Axton shook his head hastily before replying.

"No! I was just thinking I'd like to travel around a bit…"

In truth, he was hoping to find out where Maya intended on travelling and if she would like a companion. Seidin spoke unhesitatingly.

"As long as you are capable, the offer will always be open. The VLF is always receptive towards competent soldiers."

Axton sighed in relief. At the least there was something to do as a backup plan.

"Thank you, sir."

Seidin nodded once more before walking off. Axton followed him back to the main loading area to find that the rest of the group was already there. Gaige and Tina were standing with two VLF operatives; Axton recalled that Gaige had introduced them as her parents a little after watching the execution of Handsome Jack. Doctor Wastryn was there too, standing off to the side. Once Axton and Seidin rejoined the others, the red-haired mechromancer stepped forward.

"Uh… guys? We're gonna be staying here. We were gonna head off to Aquator once Vladof is done here."

When nobody raised any objections, she continued.

"I just wanted to say thanks, for everything. I'm glad I got to fight with you guys."

Axton smiled inwardly. The feisty girl helped them more than she realized. Even now, almost two weeks after the final confrontation, Axton would still wonder how it might have turned out if they were short even one person. Smirking, the soldier spoke.

"No problem, kiddo. You sure you lot will be alright? Last I heard, you were still a wanted criminal."

Gaige scoffed.

"Yeah, turns out old man Holloway was working for Hyperion. Seems like the father-daughter pair would go around stealing technologies from different competitions. I heard they were even responsible for getting Jack the loader designs. It wasn't hard to get them to rescind that wanted poster. Mr. Seidin even asked me if I wanted a medal for my efforts."

The girl rolled her eyes.

"I'm just happy I get to be with my family again."

Maya reached over and patted the younger girl on the arm.

"I'll miss you, have fun on Aquator."

Gaige smiled.

"Thanks Maya."

The girl leaned in close, whispering conspiratorially.

"Don't be too hard on Axton now… he's already whipped enough as it is!"

Maya gave a muffled laugh and nudged the redhead affectionately.

"Cheeky little brat."

Tina ran over to Lilith, hugging the taller woman around the waist.

"I'm sorry about Roland. Thanks for taking care of me."

The older Siren didn't respond, merely tightening her grip on Tina. Tina went off and thanks Brick and Mordecai as well before returning to her foster parents. Off to the side, Wastryn was finishing up a conversation with Angel and Zer0.

"Take care of yourself, Angel. I hope that you'll get more out of life now that you're freed from that madman."

Angel nodded. She spent most of the time during the last couple days conversing with the elderly scientist, learning of all the work that occurred behind the former Hyperion president's back. There was a lot to talk about; Angel found that, despite being snubbed long ago, she could still find the heart to forgive the old man. After all, while he had abandoned her, he and his team had done their utmost to create a less confined environment for her. Though the memory still hurt her deeply, she found comfort in knowing what was going on at that time.

She promised him she would come back to Eden-6 to visit every once in a while.

As the workers finished loading the ship, Blake decided to show up to say his goodbyes as well, much to the annoyance of some. They found that, when the man was not carrying out missions, his demeanor was wildly different: more lighthearted, though still plenty sarcastic.

"Have fun on Pandora!"

He waved to them as they were boarding the ship, earning him glared from several of the Vault Hunters. Unfazed, he continued waving as Axton and Maya followed the rest into the depths of the ship.

"Bye lovebirds!"

Axton pointedly ignored Blake's cheerful voice. Somehow, he preferred it when the man was playing the part of a callous spy.

…

A day passed since the group, minus Gaige, Tina, and Antoinette, returned to Sanctuary. That sat around relaxing, thankful for the extended respite they had long since earned. Salvador was currently sitting against the kitchen counter, a bottle of ale in his hands. His head was tilted backwards, resting against the countertop. Nearby, Maya was staring at him with mild annoyance at taking up so much space. As she sipped on her own drink, the gunzerker mused out loud.

"Man… it feels weird without Gaige around, you know what I'm saying?"

Axton was sitting in an armchair across the room, an identical bottle of Rakk ale in his fingers. Zer0 and Angel were sharing a couch next to Axton, though neither of the two felt the urge to drink. The soldier looked around the room at the now diminished group.

"That's what happens when you team up. Everyone's gotta go their separate ways eventually."

Salvador looked over at the soldier, a hint of resignation in his expression.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna miss that cheeky little girl and her pet robot."

Axton nodded sagely.

"I'm surprised she stuck around with us for as long as she did. She didn't get caught up in this mess until shit had gotten out of hand."

Salvador reluctantly agreed, though still grumbling.

"It's so boring around here without anyone to fight anymore…"

Maya looked blandly at the Pandoran native.

"You would, but some of us actually like not being attacked all the time."

Salvador sighed.

"Whatever. You enjoy your quiet peace. I'm gonna check out that tournament Torgue is holding on Promethea."

Maya paused, drink halfway to her lips.

"Isn't Promethea a complete hellhole? Who on earth would hold a tournament there?"

Salvador grinned.

"Only the most badass badass in the entire universe. Besides, there's lots of room for the explosions."

This only heightened the confused look on the older Siren's face.

"What did you say this tournament is called again?"

The dwarf finished off his drink with a loud sigh of content before answering.

"Tour de Explosions. Why?"

Maya simply closed her eyes and shook her head in exasperation.

"Of course it is. When are you heading off then?"

Salvador thought for a moment, leaning back against the kitchen counter and turning the empty beer bottle in his hands.

"Tomorrow. Flight leaves at two on the seventeenth."

There was a brief pause before Axton interrupted.

"Isn't that today?"

Maya casually checked her ECHO communicator.

"Yeah… your flight leaves in about twenty minutes."

The beer bottle fell with a resounding crash.

"Shit."

Angel watched in amusement as the dwarf moved faster than any of them had thought possible. Salvador stormed off upstairs and, within seconds, began throwing things around as he packed. They could hear him cursing up a storm in Spanish, but it was mostly muffled and they couldn't hear too much of it. A few seconds later, a red faced Salvador was running back downstairs.

"You seen my spare guns?"

Most of the group shook their heads. Though quite entertained with the spectacle, Maya decided to help the man out.

"I think you left them at HQ."

Axton decided to say something as the man was about to run off again.

"Hey, you be careful out there, alright? It was nice working with you."

Salvador gave the soldier a backwards glance as he flung the front door open.

"Yeah! Nice working with ya! Gotta run! Bye!"

With that, he ran off next door. Axton stared blankly at the empty space where the stout man had been just seconds ago.

"That was…"

Axton faltered, unsure of what to say. Maya offered a word.

"Spontaneous?"

They could hear him calling out as he picked up his spare weapons.

"Mordecai! Tournament! ¡Apúrate!"

There was a crashing noise from the Crimson Raiders Headquarters. As the Vault Hunters watched, the stout man ran past with two armfuls of guns. He was followed shortly by a panicked looking Mordecai followed by a rather irate Lilith.

"Mordecai! Get back here you bastard! You promised to help me sort out this shithole of a town!"

Mordecai kept running, calling out to her over his shoulder.

"It'll only be a week or two! I'll help you after! Promise!"

This only served to piss off the red-haired Siren even more. She screamed out as the sniper vanished into the Fast Travel.

"Get back here you lazy son of a bitch!"

Her voice rang out in the quiet town center. The group watched as Lilith stormed over to the house and, without so much of a hello, grabbed a bottle of alcohol from the fridge, knocked back half the bottle, and sat down at the counter, a scowl on her face. It was an awkward moment for the rest of the occupants in the room as Lilith stared angrily at a spot on the wall. Finally, Angel braved a question.

"Uh… can't you get Brick to help you out?"

Lilith focused her steely gaze on the youngest Siren, causing her to squirm in discomfort. Finally, Lilith let out a long, annoyed sigh.

"Right, you weren't there. Brick ran off to hunt Vaults."

Angel looked rather confused at this.

"Wait, what? How would he even know where to look?"

Lilith rolled her eyes.

"That damn Vault Key. It freaked out when we tried to take it with us out of Hero's Pass. Showed the location of all the Vaults in nearby galaxies."

The older woman growled in frustration and took another sip of her drink.

"He got it in his head that he had the rights to every one of those Vaults. Ran off as soon as we got back yesterday."

Angel frowned. It did explain why she hadn't seen the beefy man around town. She originally assumed that Brick merely headed back to Thousand Cuts. Lilith sighed.

"Well, whatever. I'm not really sure what to do with this place anyway. Maybe we should find a way to land it back where we started…"

Maya looked rather nervous at that suggestion.

"You'd destroy the city."

Lilith groaned and leaned forward again, forehead resting on her arms.

"See what I mean? I've got no idea what to do here."

Axton shrugged.

"Sorry we can't do too much to help. I'd call up Dahl on how to land this thing, but I think they're still out for my blood."

For mining ship Sanctuary, there were few people that even knew how to pilot the thing, and even less people still alive to do so. Angel gave a tentative suggestion.

"Maybe you could get Tannis to do it?"

Axton shook his head.

"Nah. She was a researcher, never even set foot on this ship until Roland forced it upon her."

The soldier sighed unhappily.

"Besides, ever since Hyperion took over, Dahl's wanted nothing to do with Pandora."

The group sat around in silence, pondering but coming up with no solutions. Eventually, Lilith sighed and waved a hand in a hopeless gesture. She finished off her drink and, looking rather disheartened, got up and left. Axton leaned back in his chair, a look of disappointment on his face.

"Damn. I wish we could do something to help her… but I don't think any of us have any experience fixing cities…"

Maya agreed.

"Too bad the robots in Sanctuary are limited to Claptrap, who's pretty much useless."

Angel suddenly jumped up.

"That's it! Thanks Maya!"

The younger Siren made her way over to the door before turning back.

"Come on, Zer0!"

She disappeared out the door. Slightly confused, Zer0 got up and followed, ignoring the Maya's knowing smile and Axton's rather annoyingly wide grin. As the two left, Maya let out a quiet laugh.

"She's good for him."

Axton smirked.

"I know. He seems a lot more relaxed lately. You remember when we first started out?"

Both Vault Hunters could easily remember the high-strung assassin gutting a bandit for trying to steal from him while he slept. With just the two of them left, Axton found himself working up the courage to ask Maya about her plans. After a few false starts and subsequent gulps of alcohol, he forged ahead.

"Where are you off to now? I don't think Lilith knows a whole lot more than you about Sirens."

Maya watched the soldier for a while before answering.

"Some of Vladof's scientists mentioned a project on Demophon. I've got no other leads about Sirens, so I figured I might do a bit of excavation and research. There are some old catacombs from a lost civilization there and they mentioned they could use the extra help."

Axton looked pensive. Maya had only a marginal interest in fighting, so her decision was not terribly surprising.

"Need a bodyguard?"

The man looked up, gauging Maya's response. Maya stared back, a teasing look in her eyes.

"Why? Are you offering?"

Axton grinned nervously.

"Well, I did say I'd help you out even if you didn't need my help."

Maya raised an eyebrow, now smirking.

"True. I could use a meat shield…"

Axton pouted grumpily.

"Hey…"

But finally, the Siren smiled in full.

"Why not. It'll be fun. We can leave tomorrow if you want."

Axton grinned broadly. Things were looking up for him.

…

Angel and Zer0 entered the Crimson Raiders Headquarters. After a brief 'hello' to Tannis, who ignored them as she worked, they climbed the stairs to the second floor. There they found Lilith with her head resting on the digital map of Pandora. It seemed she had turned it off and was now using it as a makeshift table. As the two entered, she looked up, looking rather glum. Angel approached her.

"You okay?"

Lilith stared up at them, not moving her head from the table. The older Siren's state worried Angel a bit. Lilith sighed.

"Don't worry 'bout me. I'll be fine. I just don't wanna fix up this town alone, you know?"

Angel frowned. Glancing over, Zer0 recognized the expression of determination on the younger Siren's face. Almost at the same time, Angel stepped over to the command console nearby.

"What if I got you some loaders to help out?"

Lilith scoffed.

"And have them kill off the rest of the townsfolk? No thanks."

Angel gave Lilith an exasperated look.

"Reprogrammed of course."

Lilith lifted her head.

"You could do that?"

Angel shrugged.

"It's worth a try?"

As Angel began her dive, Lilith turned towards Zer0, who was standing idly nearby.

"So…"

Zer0 raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

Lilith scrunched up her face as she considered her question.

"Sorry, it still feels a bit weird talking to you like this."

As she gestured to his face, Zer0 shrugged. After a moment, Lilith finally spoke.

"Where are you off to then?"

The assassin shook his head slightly.

"I'm not sure. The toughest challenges in this universe remain well beyond the extent of my own abilities. Perhaps I will train some more."

Lilith nodded idly.

"And Angel?"

Zer0 looked thoughtful for a while.

"I am unsure. I've spoken to her about it, but her plans remain vague."

Lilith let out a small 'hum' as she stared at him. Her next question threw him off guard.

"You're not sticking around with her then?"

The assassin blinked slowly, unsure how to answer. He spoke hesitatingly.

"I will stay with her if she so wishes…"

Lilith was still watching him with a strange expression on her face. She seemed to be thinking.

"Maybe you should take the initiative?"

Zer0 frowned ever so slightly. It was a strange proposal, though he had an idea what she was trying to imply.

"Perhaps."

Angel remained unresponsive for the longest time. Zer0 resorted to performing maintenance on his favorite rifles while Lilith eventually dozed off. It was several hours before Angel finally leaned back with a weary sigh. At this noise, Lilith jumped, snapping awake.

"Huh? What's going on?"

She blinked blearily before noticing that Angel was moving again.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

Angel nodded happily.

"I managed to reroute a couple hundred loaders to the crystal storage rooms below Sanctuary. I had to reprogram each of them individually, so that took a while."

Lilith hugged the younger Siren tightly.

"Thanks, that really helps… at the very least we can start building repairs and maybe expand the edges a bit."

Angel yawned.

"It it's alright, I'm turning in. That was more exhausting than I thought it would be."

She wandered off and Zer0 packed up his stuff to follow her. Lilith called out after him.

"Hey, remember what I said, okay? That girl could use a friend to travel with."

Zer0 nodded once before leaving.

…

The next morning, Axton and Maya bid farewell to various people around Sanctuary before leaving for the spaceport. Zer0 spoke with Angel earlier about her plans and found they were about as uncertain as his were.

"I wanted to just explore… maybe go on some adventure somewhere."

Zer0 thought about it for a moment before suggesting a destination.

"Hieronymous is a hub planet for most trade. You could probably find something interesting to do there. I think I will stop there as well to see what's going on in the galaxies, maybe pick up a job or two."

Angel agreed it was probably the best place to start.

"There's one other person I want to say goodbye to before we leave though."

Zer0 shrugged.

"Take your time. That flight isn't until later in the afternoon if I read the schedules correctly."

As they made their way over to the Fast Travel Station, the familiar drawl of the local mechanic caught their ears.

"Hey, you guys see Gaige around?"

Scooter ran up to them, a wrench held loosely in one hand. Angel shook her head.

"She stayed with her family on Eden-6."

The mechanic looked crestfallen.

"Aw, shucks… guess I'll jus' have to make do with what she showed me so far…"

Zer0 narrowed his eyes suspiciously at this.

"What exactly are you trying to make with Gaige's notes?"

Scooter beamed.

"A flyin' boat! What's cooler than a flyin' boat? Just think 'bout it! Glidin' over the warm sands in the Dust."

Scooter zoned out as he planned his new creation, a bit of drool trickling out of the corner of his mouth. The assassin frowned visibly. Angel looked similarly confused.

"Why couldn't you just make an all-terrain vehicle?

Scooter looked at the Siren like she was crazy.

"That'd be so boring! Maaan, you jus' don' see it. You jus' don' get it."

Angel looked mildly insulted as Zer0 led her away and towards the Fast Travel Station.

Some things just weren't arguing over.

Angel moved to the Dust, with Zer0 following her through the Fast Travel. She ran off inside Ellie's garage, calling out for the large woman.

"Hey, girlie! What 'chu doin' here?"

Angel gave the big woman a brief hug.

"Just came over to let you know I'll be heading off to Hieronymous."

Ellie chuckled, making her entire frame shake.

"Off for more adventuring huh?"

Angel nodded.

"I wanted to thank you again for everything. If you hadn't helped me out, I probably would have been stuck in the desert for a long time."

The large woman let out a laugh.

"Aw, shucks, girl. Yer gonna make me blush! I couldn't just leave yer scrawny butt out high and dry."

Angel smiled. Ellie continued on.

"Any planet you interested in?"

The girl shook her head.

"I think I'm going to travel. See different planets, other civilizations, you know? I never really got to do anything like that before."

Ellie smiled.

"Well alright, missy. You be safe out there, ya hear me?"

Ellie wrapped the smaller girl into one last bear hug.

"And don' forget to come back and visit, 'kay?"

Blinking back tears, Angel could only nod.

…

Angel and Zer0 sat on the passenger ship headed for Hieronymous. There was still about ten minutes before takeoff, but some stragglers were still checking in and moving their luggage into the storage areas. Angel was staring out the nearby window, watching the workers below finish with fueling and various checks.

"I can't believe it's all over…"

Her voice was soft and barely audible over the sound of the engines. Zer0 glanced over at the girl who was still facing the other direction.

"Every empire falls, this one was just particularly fragile."

Angel mused over this for a while.

"Because of Jack?"

Zer0 nodded even though Angel wasn't looking at him.

"The man was content to run everything by himself, ruling through fear and violence. You saw what cornered civilians do in that kind of situation, they rebel."

Angel sighed before speaking again.

"It's weird to think that he'll be still alive long after we're gone. That chamber… you think Dr. Wastryn based it on my isolation chamber on purpose?"

Zer0 looked at the girl, a worried expression flickering across his face. But she continued to talk.

"I wonder what will happen to Hyperion now… I hope Vladof lets the innocents continue working…"

She trailed off, causing Zer0 some degree of concern.

"Angel?"

He touched her hand briefly, causing the girl to twitch in surprise. She finally turned to face him. Her eyes looked sad and full of regret, the blue of her eyes seemed dim.

"Are you alright?"

His prompting caused her to look up. She gave him a sad smile and shook her head.

"I'm fine… it's just… Now that everything settled down, it feels strange to think about him…"

The assassin remained quiet, letting her continue.

"I can't help but think of what he used to be like, what he became. A small part of me still feels responsible… for everything. I know there was little I could do, plus I was ten at the time… But still…"

She shrugged.

"Sorry for unloading on you again."

Zer0 waved away her apology.

"I was thinking, since I'm going to be training and doing jobs again…"

Angel tiled her head, wondering where he was going with this. The man looked a bit uncomfortable, a rare trait for the normally stoic assassin.

"I'll be travelling around a lot; the jobs aren't exactly isolated to one galaxy or another."

The girl watched him struggle for words.

"What I mean to say is…"

He faltered, surprisingly enough. Angel tried to encourage him to speak clearly.

"Yes?"

Finally, Zer0 spoke tentatively as he stared into her electric blue eyes.

"Stay with me?"

Angel stared into those reptilian eyes, recalling the first time she unmasked the assassin. Her situation had never been the best; even after escaping Jack's prison, she had still been caught up in the fighting. Zer0 was hard to work with at first, he never let up that cold, mechanistic demeanor.

She recalled being terrified that night, terrified that she had lost one of the few people willing to help her.

But he stayed and she eventually came to understand him a little better. He became rather protective of her, partially attributed to the fact that she had no survival experience after being trapped in a cage for almost a decade. She knew from the other Vault Hunters that the man had pushed himself, looking for her when she and Jack vanished from Hero's Pass. Now she watched as conflicting emotions appeared on the man's face, his lips twitched downwards as if he was worried he said something wrong.

It was a strange feeling to know that someone truly cared about her enough to want her around. She felt warm inside thinking about it.

Finally, Angel smiled.

His question caught her off guard, but at the same time, she found that the decision was an easy one to make.

"I'd like that."

…

Fin.

(1) Axton's last name is a play on the voice actor's last name. I got lazy and didn't feel like making one up.

**Final Notes**: And we reach the end. Did you know this is actually the first story I've ever finished (outside of one-shots)? It's a weird sort of feeling, like relief mixed with happiness. I'm sure one day years down the road, I'm going to look back on this and say, "what a terrible ending." But until then, I'm pretty happy with this.

**Now that the story has been told, I'd like to ask a favor of you as a reader. If you could, I'd really appreciate it if you left a review and answered ****some or all**** of these questions. It would really be helpful for me as a writer to see what I'm doing right and how I could improve my writing.**

1. What did you like most about this fic? (My answer: I really enjoyed writing Jack's scar story.)

2. What did you like least about this fic? (My answer: I thought my descriptions got a bit lengthy sometimes, there were a couple slow chapters that I didn't particularly feel thrilled about.)

3. Was there anything you wanted to see happen that wasn't covered? Characters? (My answer: I probably could have explored other people's POV more. I did more Zer0 and Gaige since I played those two characters in game, never got around to going further than Sanctuary with the other three.)

4. How was my characterization of Angel? (My answer: I hope I did okay. She's pretty neutral throughout both games.)

5. How were the chapter lengths? Was its ok/too short/too long? (My answer: I aimed for 4k words minimum every week. The way I planned the events seemed to fit that just fine. The only exception was Chapter 14, which I considered a climax point of sorts.)

And as a joke…

6. Did you know I had the titles formatted with every other chapter starting with the letter R? (My answer: It started as a joke. The intention was to end titles with –ing, but then I noticed I was starting every other chapter with R, so I kept it up.)

As a reward… you'll get BONUS STUFF AND OMAKES! They'll be up around Wednesday or Thursday if I can finish up all the stories within that collection.

**And, once again, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**


	20. Omake and Extra Content

A/N: Wow. Thanks to all who took time to answer those questions. It'll help me plan things a lot better in whatever story I do next!

I think the biggest thing I learned about writing this was to not post a chapter until I'm completely satisfied with it, or to have a sufficient buffer so that I can keep a schedule. (This story had no buffer whatsoever).

**To Eowyrio:** Not having a profile makes it harder to directly respond to your review. I'm very happy you pointed those things out. I usually consider myself rather attentive to minute details like that, but it's nice to see discrepancies pointed out. Let's just say the New-U system does awesome magical shit that makes you ALL BETTER. pfft.

**To address something a couple people mentioned**: This will likely be the only story I write for Borderlands. Sorry, I have no plans for a sequel. I'll probably touch up an old fic as well as dabble in other categories.

Regardless, thanks for all your support and I hope you enjoy these bonus stories I wrote whenever I got Writer's Block or was bored.

And now, time for some fun stuff. I think most of it is worth a read, especially the short stories since they're pretty much just quick drabbles. The development notes are mostly just ramblings and my thoughts on each chapter. Consider it an abbreviated commentary section.

Table of Contents (use CTRL+F if you want a specific story):

1. Omake 1 – Soldier and Spy (Alternate Jack fight)

2. Omake 2 – Aurora (Alternate Angel's Death) **[I personally recommend this one.]**

3. Omake 3 – Pretzels (Random Blurb, Beginning of Game)

4. Omake 4 – Baggage Claims (Tolstoi Family goes to Aquator)

5. Omake 5 – Weird (Tina and Zer0)

6. Omake 6 – Butt Stallion's Escape (Whatever happened to Butt Stallion?)

7. Tentative Angel Timeline

8. Portal Reference Answers: Starting Chapter 4 – Running I started slipping in one Portal reference per chapter through the epilogue, find them if you're bored… or just cheat and look at the answers anyway.

9. Author Commentary (Chapter by Chapter)

* * *

**Borderlands 2 – New-U**

Omake 1 – Soldier and Spy

A greasy haired man in a crisp business suit stood at attention in the spacious Hyperion's Presidential office. Several paces away, a figure stood bent over a console, typing furiously. He cleared his throat and the man with a disturbingly realistic mask turned to face him.

"What is it, Blake? Can't you see I'm busy?"

Handsome Jack was not one for useless reports and pointless updates. If something was done, it was done. If it wasn't, heads would roll. Jeffery Blake continued on seemingly ignorant of this fact.

"The body disposal has been taken care of. He was flung, as per your request, from a height of thirty kilometers from a JET Loader. Where the body lands is anyone's guess."

Jack sighed a loud and frustrated sigh.

"Yes, that's all great. Now can we get back to the part where you go away?"

Blake looked completely unperturbed.

"As you wish, sir."

The man wandered off and Jack resumed his work at the console. Nearby, a glittering diamond pony neighed in a bored tone. Jack smirked, meandering over and patting the beast on its stiff mane.

"That's right, Butt Stallion. He's what you call a tool! You're such a smart horse, aren't you?"

…

In the middle of a certain dreary swamp, a body landed with the force of a small explosion, sending pungent smelling water splattering across the landscape, coating rocks and trees alike. But being a swamp, the muck had already started to close in over the mangled body. A black beret, too light to sink in that mire, remained on the surface as the sludge squelched over entombing the body in its cold depths.

Silence.

It covered the landscape as a bone-chilling fog, invisible to the eyes, but eating away at the soul no matter how quickly you passed through it. Minutes dragged onto hours as this stark wasteland remained unmoving, unchanging. A mansion on the hill sat dilapidated and forgotten, electricity to this part of Pandora had been cut long ago. This region was completely forgotten to everyone save a certain group of individuals. As if to add to the oppressing aura this place exuded, the moon hung overhead, ever present. For some strange reason, that particular moon's orbit matched Pandora's spin, and the axis kept the scenery permanently enshrouded in twilight.

In the distance, something let out a soul-rending howl.

Then, something stirred from beneath the swamp. Moments later, something else stirred. Soon the dead landscape was showing signs of movement.

A gloved hand burst out through the muck.

…

The four Vault Hunters crept cautiously towards the Vault Key and Lilith. From the platform, they could make out the captured Siren's face. Her eyes were screwed up in pain as raw energy coursed through her body and then into the Key. Maya instinctively took a step back, feeling nauseated by the pulsating plasma. Axton motioned for Zer0 to watch their backs. Silently, the assassin maneuvered himself up onto a rock and crouched down, gun at the ready. The other four moved forward, ready for anything. There didn't appear to be anyone around, but they knew better than to assume that. As they moved closer to the control panel, they could hear a light tapping of fingers on keys.

A figure shimmered into view as the typing stopped. Handsome Jack turned to face the group, a look of anger and anticipation on his face.

"Hey, you're right on time – Key's almost ready! But before I cleanse this planet for good, I… wait, what's that noise?"

He paused, listening. In the distance there was a strange roaring noise. The Vault Hunters noticed this as well and, against their better judgment, turned to see what the noise was. From the upper chambers of the caverns they had passed earlier, there were figures running towards the elevator shaft. Puzzling enough there were all shapes and sizes rushing towards the summoning altar. As they drew closer, the team saw them for what they really were.

Zombies.

Hundreds of mutilated corpses lumbered towards them, some faster than others. Eyes wide with fright, the Vault Hunters quickly backed out of the way, weapons drawn in confusion. But these undead being didn't seem the slightest bit interested in the fleshy, living things nearby. They headed for one human standing at the end of the altar in a surprisingly organized manner.

Jack let out a girly scream and started sending down all the remaining Loader units he had on hand. The platform was soon covered in rotting blood and broken machinery. The four Vault Hunters watched in fascinated horror as robots struggled against zombies, their numbers overwhelming Hyperion's superior firepower. They pushed and clawed, forcing some robots into the lava, others dragging the Loaders down in suicide attacks. Jack was cowering behind the Hyperion command console when he froze, eyes focusing on a point a couple hundred meters away.

A roar, louder than all the combat noise combined sounded. The zombies redoubled their attacks and soon they were pushing towards the console where Jack hid. As they fought, one figure slowly approached the summoning altar. It was a zombie, clearly. Mud and grime caked its body and part of its cheek was torn open, revealing the muscle below. As it approached, they could vaguely make out a familiar jaw line and dark eyes, though the latter was dulled and unfocused.

"Dios…"

Salvador was muttering what sounded like holy scripture as he repeatedly crossed himself with one hand, the other hand holding a shotgun which remained trained on the zombies, never once leaving the struggling masses before him. This leading figure roared out one more time as the zombies finished off the rest of the loaders. A few of the remaining ones grabbed Jack from his hiding place. The man looked scared out of his mind at the events unfolding. He struggled, trying to summon the Warrior for backup, but found that the zombies' undead grip was surprisingly strong. Their leader walked up to the summoning altar and grabbed the key. There was the pungent smell of burning flesh as the rotted hand started to decay further from contact with the key. But this zombie didn't care. With a grunt, it jerked violently to the side and ripped the key from its alignment with the captured Siren.

Lilith fell to the ground with a soft 'oof'. She looked up blearily at the figure that was holding the key. The leader stared down at the Siren for a bit longer than a glance. But it was enough.

"Roland…?"

Without a warning, the undead soldier rushed at Jack, who had heard the Siren.

"No… no, no no! Get away from me! Get… AIIIIIIIEEEEEE!"

Jack's scream echoed throughout the cavern as both zombie, man, and Key crashed into the lava below. The Hyperion President let out an even louder, more piercing cry as the molten rock quickly ate through his protective shielding and the weight of the zombie and key dragged them all down deeper.

And then there was silence.

The few remaining zombies stared around blankly before finally noticing the humans. They tried to attack but were quickly dispatched by a couple well placed shots. Finally, they approached the disoriented Siren. She looked up at them, confusion apparent in her eyes.

"What just happened?"

…

Blake sat, pretty as can be, at his desk as the Vault Hunters glared at him. They knew where Jack had been reconstructed, but they wanted other answers now.

"What the hell happened? Why was Roland alive?!"

The shifty-eyed man gave a light shrug.

"He… wasn't?"

Axton placed two hands on the desk, leaning forwards and growling dangerously.

"Explain."

The Vladof spy sighed.

"Jack wanted his body defiled and his memory mocked. He had me dump his body from up high just to spite the man's memory. He didn't really mention WHERE he wanted me to dump the body… so I simply arranged for him to be dropped above a certain forgotten cove. Ask your Vault Hunter buddies… or Dr. Zed. They know all about that place. Anyway, it worked out okay didn't it? The Warrior didn't get summoned and the Key is as good as gone."

With a disgruntled look, Axton backed off. Seeing that there was nothing more to say, the Vault Hunters left. They had a madman to finish off. Jeffrey Blake sighed contentedly. He reached over and patted the diamond pony that was milling around the office.

"What exactly do you eat anyway…?"

…

A/N: There. I brought Roland back… kinda. Fun stuff. This story actually led me to include Blake as a spy in the actual story. The title has nothing to do with Team Fortress 2. Honest.

…

* * *

**Omake 2 – Aurora**

Angel could feel her vision fading. Jack lay several meters away, body lightly smoking from the energy discharge that had ended his life. In her dulling pain, she thought about the New-U system. It was no longer there to save her anymore. No more miracles. Then again, judging by the body laying nearby, Jack hadn't exactly considered the reconstruction as a escape route either. As her blood pooled around her, she gradually closed her eyes.

And time stopped.

Her consciousness returned, she blinked with surprise. Was this another reconstruction process? It didn't feel nearly as mechanized as the first time around. She looked around, finding that Jack was nowhere to be found. Hell, she wasn't even in the Hyperion office anymore. It was simply an empty space surrounded by complete darkness. A subtle movement caused her to whirl to face this new threat.

"Miss Xanders…."

It came as almost a hiss, the 's' being drawn out in the same breath. A sallow faced man stood before her in a crisp business suit. At his side, he clutched a thin metallic briefcase. It gave off the aura of some indestructible weapon, as if he had to merely open it and he would be victorious. The man continued to stare at the Siren. His unblinking blue-green eyes seemed to bore into the very depths of her soul. The girl looked a bit nervous. She barely noticed that the office setting had reappeared, thought it was no longer Hyperion.

"Yeah, that's me. What do you want? Where am I?"

The man seemed to ignore her questions.

"My… employers… have expressed their interest in your… powers."

At the mention of her Siren abilities, Angel narrowed her eyes, shifting ever so slightly to be in a better position should the man decide to attack. She spoke hesitantly.

"Yeah… what about them?"

A smirk ghosted across the man's face, leaving as soon as it had appeared. He didn't seem too interested in her combat stance.

"It would be most… advantageous… if you would assist in retrieving a certain… technology… for us. The… container… has impressive defenses that require your powers to overcome. If you should choose to accept this offer, you will be required to deal with these defenses as well."

Now Angel was on complete alert. The man's request was completely vague and indecipherable.

"Is that right? And what would I get out of this? Why should I even trust you?"

Again, that annoyingly omniscient smirk.

"As you might be aware, your body is slowly dying. I can heal you provided you accept this offer. If you choose to decline… well, let's just say you and I will not be meeting again and my… employers… will not be too pleased."

The Siren growled quietly.

"Sounds like I don't have much of a choice here…"

The man's face remained completely neutral. He neither spoke nor moved. Angel assumed he was waiting for an answer of some sort.

'Giving me the bare minimum huh…? Sneaky bastard…'

The Siren straightened and faced her… her what? Captor? Employer?

"Fine."

The man gave a full smile, which scared the girl even more than his previous expression.

"Very good, Miss Xanders…"

His voice was beginning to echo. The scenery around her was shifting.

"I look forward to your… success…"

As his hissing died away, the scenery around her sharpened into focus. Her eyes instinctually squinted at the whiteness. She was in an arctic tundra. Her body felt heavy and she noticed she now had on a thick parka with a fur hood as well as warm snow pants and heavy fur boots. Shivering slightly, she tightened the cord threaded through the hood of the parka. Looking around, she saw a massive ice shelf that stretched on into the distance. And there, in the distance, something stuck out of the ice, an off-white vessel that had grown stained with rust.

'Welp… might as well…'

The Siren began walking towards the frozen ship in the distance. It took the better part of an hour despite the relatively flat ice shelf. As she approached the immobile monolith, something caught her eye. Black lettering stood out against the white world she was wandering through, spelling out a single word.

_Borealis._

…

Light-years away, a old man cupped his face in shaking hands. He had wanted to save her, and yet his program had failed at the last moment. Though constantly watched by that madman, his team had kept a close eye on their adopted daughter, hoping to find a chance to drag her out of the grasp of their President. They had watched in horror as her vital signs fell, indicating that she had been fatally wounded. All available researchers had immediately prepared for her reconstruction accordingly.

And then her vital signs vanished.

Something had happened, something even the old man couldn't explain. He no longer had any idea if the girl was still alive. All their satellite monitoring devices had shut down at the same time. Any attempts to reboot the system and relocate the girl had been in vain. Finally, after hours of frantic programming and system reconfiguration, they sat back in defeat. A girl who could never escape her oppressors was supposed to be freed. She was supposed to be able to do as she wanted, live as she chose, no longer bound by any inhumane plots. Yet their plan had ultimately failed.

It was simply a string terrible and unforseen consequences.

…

"Miss Angel…"

A small voice squeaked quietly out of a smooth white turret. The Siren turned to face the speaker.

"Shh… they're still out there…"

Girl and turret ducked into an abandoned room as a reptilian… something… stalked past outside. The little turret was formidable, but there were just too many of them. Angel found the turret as she ran through the empty halls, searching for… whatever she was supposed to be looking for. Then she saw them. Tall, scaly things. Not quite human and yet not quite serpentine. They all held sharp looking pieces of shrapnel and were slowly closing in on a single white turret. Broken turrets littered the floor with even more dead bodies on the opposite side of the room. The immobile machine stubbornly fired away at the approaching enemies, faithful in its duty until the very end. In a moment of mindless heroics, she leapt in, scooped the tiny turret up, and ran for her life. A shrill scream echoed behind her as she ran. The turret was too confused to react as the two fled through the halls of the _Borealis_. The two had now been playing hide-and-seek with those blood-thirsty monsters for a little over an hour.

"Miss Angel…"

The child-like voice came again, a little more insistently this time. Satisfied that the creatures had let up in their pursuit, the Siren turned back to the turret.

"What?"

The turret focused one red eye on the girl.

"She can help. If we turn her on, she can help."

Angel sighed, rubbing her temples. Was nothing ever easy? She had no idea what the turret was talking about, nor had she made any headway on deciding what it was she was after.

"Where is this person?"

The turret actually giggled at this.

"Not a person! A machine!"

Angel cocked an eyebrow at this.

"Huh. Well where to then?"

The turret sounded a lot happier at this.

"That way!"

The tiny turret wiggled its side panels towards a corridor. Without much reason to go in any other direction, Angel followed the machine's directions until they reached a large operations room. It appeared to double as the navigations room of the ship. The Siren gazed around, amazed that such technologies had been so well preserved despite the below freezing temperatures. The turret squeaked again, calling her to attention.

"Over here!"

Angel walked over to a panel with a single screen. Pausing for a moment, she turned it on. A wall of text began to run. Staring intensely, the Siren attempted to read its programming. Before she could make heads of tails of it though, a smooth female voice spoke from the nearby speakers.

"Oh. Fancy that. I was going to have Blue and Orange do this when they finished testing, but I guess some little monkey stumbled upon it."

A hatch opened from the ceiling of the room. A medium sized robot, about as large as Angel was tall, dropped down. It peered at her with a single yellow eye. Then it began glancing around the room, still hooked to the ceiling.

"This body is a bit smaller than what I'm used to, but considering the size of this ship, I guess that's okay."

The new machine turned back to Angel.

"Hmm… you're not an Aperture employee… Are you with Black Mesa?"

The yellow eye narrowed shrewdly.

"Er… Who's Black Mesa?"

The machine stared at her, calculatingly.

"No… obviously not. You're not stupid enough."

The Siren felt a little annoyed at this.

"Excuse me? Who are you to say anything about anyone?"

A this the machine seemed to puff itself up with pride.

"I am the smartest supercomputer ever built. The Generic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. Also know as Caroline…"

The machine seemed to pause at this.

"No. No, no, no. Ignore her. You can call me GLaDOS."

Angel wasn't really sure what to make of this computer with a seemingly split-personality disorder. The machine turned back.

"Anyway, while your assistance has been greatly appreciated, according to testing protocol, I can't really let you leave after you've seen so much. I've got just the surprise for you. Let me just warm up the deadly neurotoxin. It's pretty cold out there you know?"

A soft hiss began to escape from the room's ventilation system as the ship purged its pipes of oxygen. Angel's brain kicked into overdrive.

'Neruotoxin? Oh no… no, no no…'

The Siren ran over to the control panel, powers flaring.

"Activating Phaseshift!"

She plunged into the stream of programming running through the machine she had just turned on, forcibly tearing through the security barricades to get to the machine's core. There was a disgusted shriek from the hanging machine.

"What are you doing! Stop that! Get your filthy little fingers out of my system!"

Angel's electric blue eyes blazed as she stared at GLaDOS.

"Turn off the neurotoxin."

There was a tense silence. The turret sat to the side, forgotten for the time being, and trembling slightly in fear.

"Fine. You win. But don't get too used to this."

The hissing stopped. Angel continued to hold the machine's gaze, daring her to try something else. A voice surprised both of them.

"Miss Angel…"

The Siren's head jerked to the side, staring at the small turret in surprise. Similarly, the hanging robot's head whirled to focus on the speaker. The turret seemed to shrink even more in fright. Bravely, it pushed on in that child-like voice.

"The lizardmen…"

There was a small delay as Angel thought about what the turret was talking about. Then she turned back to GLaDOS.

"Right! There are these lizard things running around the ship. I think they've destroyed some of the existing equipment as well."

The robot growled, actually growled. It was a metallic sort of rumble.

"Is that right… Excuse me for a moment."

The robot's yellow eye dimmed for a few minutes, indicating its attention was elsewhere. After an uneasy wait, the eye brightened and refocused.

"Well. This ship is a mess, but I managed to boot up the turret production line. Those things shouldn't live for too much longer. Now, what to do with those things out there…"

Angel interrupted her line of thought.

"Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

The robot barely paid her any heed. Annoyed, the Siren began hacking into GLaDOS's system again.

"WHAT! Okay! Okay! Tell you what. Ever since that fatty left, I wondered how she was doing. Those aliens out there don't seem too friendly."

The yellow eye dimmed as the supercomputer processed a heavy load of information.

"Yes… it seems like those smelly humans are in quite the dilemma. I don't think there's even a Black Mesa to compete against anymore. Shame. Not really, though. I'd like for you to help me with a project, since you appear to be able to bend machines to your will."

Angel nodded absentmindedly at this. Her curiosity won out and she spoke without reservation.

"So what is going on out there? I was on a planet called Pandora before this creepy old guy sent me here… know anything about that?"

The robot swayed slightly as it stared at her, intrigued.

"Hm… no. How interesting, something I don't know… I'll need to look into that. But to answer your question, this planet is called Earth. Thanks to Black Mesa and their stupidity, there was a massive explosion of portal energies. An alien race called the Combine saw that as a beacon and immediately showed up. Apparently the battle for Earth took only seven hours. They've put most cities under martial law and have been draining the oceans for their own purposes. There seems to be some resistance groups, but nothing too prominent. Also some ridiculous rumor about a messiah called the Free Man."

Angel frowned at this description. This world seemed in pretty bad shape.

"If you're so great, why didn't you do anything to help?"

GLaDOS seemed annoyed at this.

"I had no reason to clean up after Black Mesa. Even if I wanted to, Chell killed me and I was silent for the better part of fifteen years."

The Siren thought about this for a moment.

"Chell… I take it she's the 'fatty' that left?"

The robot hummed distractedly.

"Did I say that? I meant psychotic maniac and murderer."

Angel snorted in disbelief.

"Whatever. If you had no obligations, why the change of heart?"

GLaDOS remained silent for a while, before answering snappishly.

"That's none of your business. You're quickly reminding me of how nice it was when someone doesn't ever talk. Now be quiet. It'll be a while for the ship's engines to warm up, but once that's done, we can start moving South towards the Eurasian mainland. I think the Combine are calling it City 17…"

The _Borealis_ began shaking as it struggled to rid itself of decades of ice. Seemingly satisfied, GLaDOS turned back to the quiet girl.

"Now, how should we pass the time…"

The machine was silent for a moment before it turned to the young Siren.

"How would you like to help me do some testing on this ship?"

…

A/N: Moo ha ha. Yup that's all you get of this story. Wheeeeeee.

…

* * *

**Omake 3 – Pretzels**

The four surviving Vault Hunters set off on their epic journey to find the Vault and kill Jack. It would be an adventure that would be told time and time again to young children well into the future. They would end up experiencing victories and losses, triumphs and tragedies. And no matter how bleak, how hopeless their situation may become, they would stick together. Because they were a team.

And they set out from the small icy village of Liar's Berg.

"Hey!"

An annoying and grating voice rang in their ears as the villain himself contacted the team yet again.

"How… oh, these pretzels suck…"

He tried again, his mouth still full of pretzels.

"How…"

But he never got past that word, for his bad habit of talking with his mouth full had finally come back to bite him in the ass. The billionaire engineer began choking on his dry, tasteless pretzels. The four Vault Hunters listened with interest as the man coughed and choked, trying to dislodge a particularly dry piece of his snack that had become practically fused to his windpipe.

"B… Blake! He… help… water!"

But his struggling only made the situation worse as the piece shifted slightly from his words, completely blocking off airway. There were several wheezing gasps as the President of Hyperion tried desperately to take in oxygen, only to find that the pretzel was preventing such saving action. There came a thud from the other end of the ECHO communicator.

Then, silence.

And the four surviving Vault Hunters set off on their epic journey to find the Vault.

…

In a different dimension, a certain game company caught a massive backlash for producing such a strange and anticlimactic storyline. For after the death of the game's main villain, there was nothing much else to do in the game, which eventually boiled down to hours and hours of mindless weapon farming and grinding, both of which served no real purpose because there was no longer any real storyline. The game eventually proved to be the company's downfall as they would never be taken seriously ever again.

The End.

…

A/N: What a short story. What a short mission.

…

* * *

**Omake 4 – Baggage Claims**

"Come on! We're gonna miss the flight!"

A certain red-haired girl ran through a moderately busy airport terminal on Eden-6, an excited look on her face. She couldn't wait to spend quality time with her new sister. A broad shouldered, clean-shaven man with dark brown hair chuckled and called after the girl.

"Calm down, sweetie. We've still got to get our tickets!"

The five travelers moved through the midday crowds with relative ease, mostly due to the fifth member of the party. A stalker, small by stalker standers, but still large in the eyes of man, trotted along after the four humans as if it were the most natural thing in the world. By its side was a small, yellow-haired girl who was sporting a strange mask that was covered in something that suspiciously resembled blood. For the umpteenth time, she questioned the man and his wife.

"Is… is this really okay?"

Michael Tolstoi crouched down by his new daughter, who had stopped walking.

"Tina, you've obviously been through Hell, what with living on Pandora by yourself. Antonia and I always wanted to have more kids, but with our line of work, it became hard to accomplish such a thing. We're not trying to replace your parents, we just want the chance to be your family. No matter what, I'm proud to call you my daughter, even if we're not related."

He gave the small girl a tight hug. The baby stalker looked on in mild confusion. The small girl nodded, misty-eyed. Michael stood once more and addressed his wife.

"Which airline are we using?"

Antonia glanced around before pointing.

"Aquator Adventures. That one seems to be leaving in an hour and a half."

Michael smiled.

"Perfect!"

He walked off towards the ticketing counter followed by the rest of his family. The tall man marched purposefully up to the agent.

"Four tickets to Aquator please. The next flight, if possible."

The worker looked new. His nametag was upside-down, reading Josh. His tie was askew, his hands trembled slightly, and his eyes darted helplessly around, looking for someone to pass the job onto. Or maybe that was caused by Antoinette. Who knows. Michael chuckled.

"Easy there, son. No need to get so worked up."

Josh seemed to have a stutter, again, possibly out of fright.

"U…uh…. Sir? I… uh… um… that is to say… we… uh…"

Antonia was apparently in no mood for this.

"Can we get the tickets or not?"

The young worker tried again.

"We do… but we don't transport those…"

Antonia cocked an eyebrow.

"Those?"

That terrified look appeared once again.

"Well… class five dangerous creatures… ma'am!"

Tina huffed from somewhere around Michael's bellybutton, her head barely cleared the countertop.

"I'll have you know Antoinette is a noble lady! She is not some dangerous beast! And she was framed! Framed I tell you!"

At this the worker had a slightly confused look on his face. Michael redirected the conversation.

"I assure you Antoinette is safe, isn't that right, Tina?"

The small girl's eyes darted to the side, not meeting her adoptive father's eyes.

"Safe…ish?"

Gaige rolled her eyes.

"Yes, daddy."

Josh the worker didn't look reassured. Michael shook his head slightly and returned to the conversation.

"Bottom line is, we are going to Aquator. Antoinette is coming along."

The trembling man tried again.

"Sir… there's not enough room in to hold an animal carrier for something that… size…"

Tina fumed.

"You callin' her fat? Bitch I will mess you up!"

The man was really confused now. Michael cleared his throat.

"Then I would like to purchase six tickets. I trust three seats would be enough for Tina and Antoinette?"

Josh looked rather nervous as he tried to reason his way out of this one, stammering in the process.

"Um, well…. I don't know if we're able to… I mean, I guess… But I mean… think of the passengers…"

He trailed off weakly. Antonia smiled thinly.

"Trust me, Antoinette will be the least of their worries if they upset my daughter."

The young man gulped visibly. Tina beamed. Eventually, he nodded hesitantly.

"Very well… six tickets to Aquator."

After a few minutes of typing in the computer, he handed over a small bundle of papers. He gave them a weak smile.

"Well… uh… enjoy your flight…"

Michael nodded curtly and the family walked off. Unfortunately it wouldn't be long before they encountered yet another snag in their plans.

*BEEEP!*

A female security guard stared at the red-haired girl that had just tried to pass through the security checkpoint.

"Ma'am, please remove any metallic objects you might have on you."

Gaige fidgeted slightly, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Well… I can't really do that…"

She lifted her left jacket sleeve to reveal the prosthetic underneath. The guard looked rather embarrassed. She gestured for the girl to come around.

"Would it be alright if we check you for other metals minus your arm?"

The girl nodded and another officer with a metal detector stepped forward to perform the manual check. The female security guard returned to her post.

*BEEEP!*

The female security guard frowned slightly, staring at the blonde-haired girl whose bag just tripped the alarm.

"Sweetie, is this your bag?"

Tina nodded.

"You betcha."

The woman nodded as another officer brought the bag aside.

"May we look through it?"

Tina frowned at this.

"Bitch, you think I got drugs?"

The man holding her bag looked surprised. The security guard gave the small girl a pointed look. Tina sighed dramatically.

"Fiiine."

The other security guard began looking through the bag. It didn't take long for him to hold up a doll.

"Er… is this a hand grenade?"

Tina huffed.

"How rude! That is Princess Fluffybutt and she does NOT appreciate being manhandled!"

Michael stepped towards the female security guard.

"If it makes any difference, I've already disarmed the thing, there's no gunpowder inside at all."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, sir, but who exactly are you to claim such a thing?"

Michael brought out a card.

"I'm an engineer for the VLF. Believe me, that's nothing more than the shell of a grenade."

Tina stomped a foot.

"Princess Fluffybutt!"

Michael nodded.

"Yes, honey, I know."

The woman could feel a headache coming on. She waved a hand wearily.

"Fine… Sorry for the holdup, Chief Marshall Tolstoi."

Gaige's father nodded.

"You were just doing your job."

Tina was finally allowed to take her bag and join up with Gaige who was allowed to pass several minutes ago. They were joined by Antonia before another alarm bell halted the line once again.

*BEEEP!*

The female security guard looked over and found herself staring at the baby stalker. Apparently its tail had enough metal deposits that it triggered the alarm. The woman could only stare, mouth slightly open. Intrigued, Antoinette waved her tail through the security gate again

*BEEEP!*

*BEEEP!*

*BEEEP!*

The people waiting to pass through the single security gate fidgeted impatiently, though none of them had the guts to confront the baby stalker who had taken to playing with the sensors. It would be a good thirty minutes before the line started moving again.

…

Johnson wasn't having a good day so far. Not only did his vacation flight get delayed due to complications at the security checkpoint, his seat had been moved to make room for what appeared to be a tiny girl and a small monster. He nearly wet himself when the stalker placed its claws on the back of its row in order to stare at him. To his relief, the small girl had told the beast to sit back down and, thankfully, it did as it was told. This was supposed to be a relaxing flight, goddammit!

He closed his eyes, picturing the calm blue waters and warm sandy beaches of Aquator.

As the plane reached cruising altitude, a childish voice in front of him began to sing, just loud enough for him to hear over the whine of the engines.

"_I'm Henry The Eighth, I am!  
Henry The Eighth I am, I am!  
I got married to the widow next door  
She's been married seven times before  
And everyone was an Henry (Henry)  
She wouldn't have a Willie or a Sam (no Sam)  
I'm her eighth old man, I'm Henry  
Henry The Eighth I am!"_

Johnson let out a small moan as the girl began to sing the entire thing again.

This was going to be a long flight.

…

A/N: Heh. Didn't really get to incorporate Antoinette much after she was named. What an annoying song to get stuck in your head.

…

* * *

**Omake 5 – Weird**

Zer0 stared out at the badlands, musing in that mysteriously annoying way of his.

'Man. I must look so badass, sitting here all contemplative and whatnot.'

He surveyed the lands before him, thinking about how awesome he was now that he had more experience under his belt. Who knows, maybe he would be ready to take on those Elders that nobody seems to talk about anymore.

Seriously, it was like they never existed in the first place.

*poke*

Ah, it was that annoying little girl he and Angel had been sent to retrieve. Where was that red-headed girl to rein the little terror in?

*poke*

He wished she would go away. Zer0 was quite serious when he admitted he thought her unstable, though completely insane was probably a better term.

*poke*

"Yes?"

He wasn't in the mood to deal with this. All the little girl ever wanted to talk about was explosives and tea.

"Whatcha doing?"

Zer0 pointedly ignored her.

*poke*

This was beginning to push the limits of his patience. If she didn't take a hint and soon, he was going to stick his blade somewhere where the sun –

*poke*

"What."

It took all his remaining control not to snap then and there. Tina frowned, annoyed at his reaction.

"How rude! I asked you a question."

Zer0 turned to stare blankly at the little terror that was now staring innocently up at him. He swore she knew exactly what she was doing and was being deliberately annoying.

"Watching for enemies."

"Why?"

Zer0 attempted to psychically demand the girl leave him be, but either she was resistant to his influence, or he simply wasn't a psychic at all.

*poke*

"Stop that."

Tina pouted.

"Answer my question!"

Maybe if he stayed silent, she'd get bored and go away.

*poke*

*poke*

*poke*

Or maybe not. He bit out an answer to satiate the annoyance.

"In case we get attacked."

"But there's no one out there. It's just sand."

"There might be."

"That's stupid."

Zer0 sighed, turning to the petulant child.

"It's a precaution one must take when travelling the wilderness of Pandora."

She stared up at him for the longest time. Zer0 stared right back. Finally, she spoke.

"You're weird."

Zer0 blinked, though his mask remained impassive.

"I'm not weird."

The girl snorted.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yeah-huh."

Zer0 scowled under his helmet.

"The bothersome fly / Annoying little creature / Leave me this instance."

Tina smirked in that omniscient way of hers.

"See. Weird."

Zer0's control slipped for a brief moment.

"Cease that foolishness this instant."

"Make me."

Zer0 wanted to scream, but had too much pride to give in.

"Go away."

"Make me."

"Go bother Gaige."

"Make me."

"Why do you insist on bothering me?"

"Cuz it's fun."

Zer0 pressed his hands to his face and let out a muffled scream of annoyance. Tina tilted her head, taking in the odd sight.

"Forget it, you're not weird."

Finally. Maybe she'd leave him alone now.

"Thank you."

She stared up at him for a second longer.

"You're dumb."

Tina skipped off to find Gaige to play with, leaving a thunderstruck assassin behind.

…

A/N: I originally planned a little back-and-forth argument between Zer0 and Tina… those lines didn't make it into the actual story so I expanded it into an omake.

…

* * *

**Omake 6 – Butt Stallion's Escape**

Her servant was dead, her empire in ruins. Oh, what a fool she was to trust in the weak ambitions of a fleshy human being. He didn't even know what she ate, constantly pressing those dry, tasteless dough thing on her. She was eventually forced to raid the crystal vaults on the moon base to sate her hunger.

She snorted in annoyance.

Through the monitor on Jack's desk, she watched as the young Siren girl blocked locked the Hyperion workers in the loading bay. The girl's eyes flicked over at her every once in a while. The human was probably wondering why she was just standing there. As if she had any reason to stop the human. She secretly hoped this placed would be destroyed, space just wasn't good on her crystalline skin.

A loud explosion shook the base. A quick glance at the camera showed that those idiots down in the loading bay had blown a hole in the air lock.

Fools. Every last one of them. Scrambling around just because her weak human 'owner' was dead. She watched as the last of the workers were flung into the icy depths of space. Several other humans rushed into the room, one of which she recognized as the slimy man who smelled like gunpowder and metal. He wasn't so bad. Though even he didn't know what she ate, and that diminished the man's worth in her eyes.

Another explosion rocked the building as the humans killed a stray guard that had burst into the room.

It was time to leave.

Testament to his fading sanity, Jack had built her an escape teleporter, which would send her back to Eden-6. Why he did such a thing, she would never know. But she figured it was too much of a hassle to question the actions of a crazy person.

Using her snout she bumped another panel on the wall and opened up another escape teleporter. Pressing a button, she was whisked away as the moon base exploded into oblivion.

…

A machine fizzled sharply and she felt the ground solidify below her hooves. She trotted calmly off the makeshift platform. Immediately, she noticed an intruder in her room. This winged intruder had the gall to speak without being spoken to first!

[Who dares enter my domain! Leave you sparkly intruder! I am Queen and my word is law!]

She snorted. The cheeky little brat. She knew there was a reason she hated kids.

[Excuse me. This is my room. I'll ask you to leave.]

The small winged one tried again, snarling aggressively.

[Perhaps I was unclear. Remove your crystal butt from my sight. NOW!]

She stomped her feet, annoyed that the creature was still whining about something or other.

[Get out of here, kid. Before I stomp you flat.]

But the baby creature before her was as petulant as… well, as petulant as a baby really.

[No! My human said I could stay here! This place is mine!]

She rolled her eyes.

[And my human gave me this place. It's clearly mine.]

The smaller creature would hear nothing of reason.

[NO! NO NO NO! GO AWAY!]

So she began actively ignoring the small winged thing, sighing a parting shot before tuning it out.

[Stupid little kid. You're no queen. You're just a spoiled little brat.]

This infuriated the creature to no end.

[GRAAAH! I HATE YOU! GET OUT OF HERE!]

…

Jeffrey Blake was wandering around the halls, having forgone going down with the others to see Jack's punishment. He had, after all, made several of the chamber's design suggestions and didn't care to see the man at all.

Instead, he wandered towards the waiting room, hoping to find his favorite explosives experts: the Tolstois.

A strange noise was coming from the room, it sounded like the static on a TV screen. Blake glanced inside the room, curious as to what was making all the noise. Strangely enough, the baby stalker that had come with them on the cruiser, Antoinette if he recalled, was snarling and spitting at a pristine, diamond pony, who seemed largely unimpressed by the smaller creature's actions.

"What the hell is going on here…?"

…

A/N: Maybe Butt Stallion will be in DLC 4.

…

* * *

**Tentative Angel Timeline **(or at least this is how I approached it):

**Age 10**

Mary Xanders is killed.

John Xanders begins losing his sanity and grip on reality.

Angel locked in isolation chamber.

Dr. Wastryn joins research team as the head scientist.

Jeffrey Blake infiltrates Hyperion HQ as a general aide and manager of mercenary relations

**Age 11**

John Xanders ambushed by coworkers, face scarred.

Angel's first conversation with Dr. Wastryn.

**Age 12**

Angel revels Atlas's goals to Jack.

**Age 13**

Angel kills many people through various means, including arranging the deaths of those that attacked Jack two years ago.

Angel and her containment chamber is sent to Pandora, where she oversees operations via satellite.

Blake hires Zer0 to take out competition.

**Age 14**

Angel guides Original Vault Hunters to the Vault.

First Vault opened, Destroyer is defeated.

Previous Hyperion President murdered.

**Age 15**

Angel begins charging the Vault Key as well as luring potential Vault Hunters to their deaths.

**Age 16**

**Age 17**

**Age 18**

Angel watches New Vault Hunters.

**Age 19**

Gaige escapes Eden-5 and arrives on Pandora.

Events of the story.

…

A/N: I always kinda pictured her being around 19 (I dunno why), even though that made a bit less sense considering the five year gap between Borderlands 1 and Borderlands 2. I guess she was good at disguising her face and voice through the ECHO communicator. (Makes sense, she is quite the hacker.) Or maybe she simply grew up faster (physically or mentally as a result of her surroundings). Whatever.

…

* * *

**Portal Reference Answers (some were more obvious than others):**

Chapter 0-3 – If I actually managed one, it was by pure, freaky coincidence.

Chapter 4 – Wheatley and Potato Battery

Chapter 5 – "Someday we'll look back on that and laugh. And laugh. And laugh." (In A/N)

Chapter 6 – Tasting blood after Fast Travel and teeth

Chapter 7 – Antonia's building turrets. Turret King waits patiently outside to be finished.

Chapter 8 – Turret Wife Serenade and Cara Mia

Chapter 9 – "Thank you for helping us help you help us all."

Chapter 10 – Lemons (Kinda. I actually forgot and went back and added it a couple days after posting the chapter – guilty as charged.)

Chapter 11 – Cake recipes. "Good people don't end up here."

Chapter 12 – Wheatley Hacking. This one was (un)surprisingly easy to implement.

Chapter 13 – "This is the part where I kill you."

Chapter 14 – 4000 degrees Kelvin

Chapter 15 – Captain's argument with Jerry

Chapter 16 – You have been asleep for nine nine nine nine…

Chapter 17 – Android Hell

Chapter 18 – Still Alive

Ending Notes – Seriously? You couldn't guess? There was just an entire short story dedicated to this. Scroll back up and read it again if you didn't pick this up.

A/N: Hm. Yeah. If I ever do something like this, I'll probably plan it out a bit better. This was _totally_ not done on a whim.

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**Author Commentary**

**Chapter 0/Prologue** – **This was going to be a one-shot… What happened?**

**Chapter 1** – I liked the bandits and midgets. They never really show up as much after this chapter. Oh well.

**Chapter 2** – Yeah… I dunno, I still feel really weird about creating an image for Zer0. I realized long afterwards that his image is partially based on Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher. Shame on me for not noticing.

**Chapter 3** – The Elders were supposed to be complete douche bags, killing off entire races for their own progression. If I ever feel like changing anything in this story, it would be to do a better job at explaining their history. They kind of disappeared after I mentioned them. I think I joked about this above in one of the omakes.

**Chapter 4** – Around Chapter 4, I started regretting setting up a schedule… (surprising since I took this to almost 20 chapters). It was also around here that I started seriously working on NSF and reading a lot more Fanfiction… Like stated in the chapter, Running was supposed to be short, but I enjoyed Michael and Antonia so much that I just kept going.

**Chapter 5** – I like Dave. He's dead.

**Chapter 6** – Drunk Mordecai was one of the original scenes I had planned out after starting continuing the story.

I dreaded this chapter because I knew I needed a reason why Roland was still dead. How the original Vault Hunters can die was actually the hardest thing up to this point in the story. Here's some of the crazy ideas I initially had for why Roland stayed dead:

1. Roland was being stupid and wanted to die a 'good death', so he removed himself from the system.

2. For who knows what reason, the original Vault Hunters storm the New-U system's database and removed themselves. Questions of why would they do that and why would the databanks be on Pandora stopped this idea.

3. I was considering borrowing from Discar: Jack locks them out of the system. In his story Angel prevents new Vault Hunters from being removed.

The last one didn't really work with my story so I went with unpredictability and uncertainty causing them to be wary about the entire system itself. I added in Tannis's uncanny ability with computers as a bit of a plot hole/deus ex machina type of attribute.

**Chapter 7** – Chapter 7 and 8 I had trouble with, partially since I did Chapter 7 during Thanksgiving. I was also a bit worried of it getting a bit boring but didn't want to sacrifice plot development to speed things along. I also uploaded the book cover at around this time.

**Chapter 8** – Around here I was running out of ideas on how to connect the scenes I wanted to use, so I had to start planning a bit more. It really helped that I knew how the story was gonna end so I could work towards it

**Chapter 9** – A bit before this chapter, I had started working on Omake 1, which led to the introduction of the Vladof spy, Blake. His character ended up being rather fun to put in at various points.

**Chapter 10** - The baby stalker has quite the imagination. Her advisors are her parents, and she's just a kid, not a Queen. Though she is named after a Queen. I wish I got to do more with Antoinette, but I guess two Omakes will have to suffice.

**Chapter 11** – I really liked writing Gaige's view of the New Haven attack. Helena Pierce was a cool lady if I recall, too bad they killed her off in BL2. I also tried my hand at a tiny bit of romance.

**Chapter 12** – The events of the barge crash came to me at random, somewhere around Chapter 9 or 10 if I recall. I liked being able to recreate the crash, since not much is known other than Mordecai and Brick live, which is hard to believe since you watch the barge crash and burn right in front of your eyes. I ended up ending with the crash scene, which allowed me to push various events into future chapters. This helped because I was worried Chapter 13 and 14 would be tough to write with smaller scenes to cover.

**Chapter 13** – Holy shit. This was a tough one to write. I constantly worried about having Angel step in during the execution scene after the final battle. I talked with an old friend for a while and decided that it may be reasonable that Angel wouldn't be able to callously watch her father's execution, regardless of the circumstances.

In retrospect, I wish there were more fighters to work with in this battle. The final push in Borderlands 2 is rather linear, leaving very little for me to work with.

**Chapter 14** – This was the climax of the story and I wanted it to have quite the impact. I spent something like five or six hours with that same friendediting it.

I like the theory that his scar came from an accident with Angel. Luckily, that theory didn't really fit into the story, allowing for the much more interesting back story of Jack's scar. Not much is known about the guy, I'd like to think that everything fell apart once his wife died. He became obsessive and borderline fanatical, leading to sever consequences from the corporate suits.

**Chapter 15** – Moon base escape came during my chapter 9 planning. I was trying to figure out what to do since I knew where to go with the story, but still had trouble connecting the dots. Unfortunately, Chapter 14 marked the end of things I had planned out well, so I ended up reorganizing several events until other scenes came to mind. The timeline I used looked something like this.

Day 1 – VLF and Doctor, interstellar transfers

Day 2 – Zer0 leaves, Info Stockade

Day 3 – Team wakes, notices Zer0's missing, Old Vault Hunters hold small funeral, Zer0 finds office

Day 4 – Team leaves on plane (commandeered), Angel talks with Doctor, Zer0 returns to Sanctuary, leaves for moon base

Day 5 – Team confronts Blake, Angel wakes, hides, Zero on Hyperion ship (hidden), Team leaves

Day 6 – Zer0 arrives on moon base, moon base destroyed, Blake, Zer0, and Angel bail

Day 7 – Tina waits, Everyone leaves for Eden-6

I know I screwed around with the time and dates thing, but all in all, it was rather fun to write out events side by side. Ultimately, it was fun for me, but probably less so for the readers.

**Chapter 16** – Blake was a spy through Omake 1. Kind of funny how that worked out. Ever since I wrote the joke story, I decided I would keep it that way. I think this chapter flowed better than the previous one, which jumped around quite a bit.

**Chapter 17** – Wow. I'm surprised how many people liked the punishment. And in case anyone complains about placement, Wastryn was going to be the benefactor from Chapter 1. It was one of the central things I decided after you lot suggested I continue the story. Jack's eternal punishment developed throughout the story and also from that message about spawn camping.

**Chapter 18** – This was one hell of a story for me. I was fretting about the ending since, at Chapter 14 or so, I still wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. My friend suggested I reread the story, which really helped put things into perspective. You should try it too if you're ever struggling with the ending to a story.

All in all, I found it to be a decent story. There are several things I want to go back and fix, but have decided to leave it be and move on instead.


End file.
